Centrelink
WITH Centrelink's continual debacles in hurting their clients a question must be asked. It is clear even when the people they target have done nothing wrong they want the money by any means necessary.
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Do they want to destroy their victims too? Because between crippling debt, those in need are put in through no fault of their own and the trauma of trying to clear their name this is exactly what Centrelink do. Destroy their lives. If Centrelink does indeed take a vengeance-based approach to debt recovery then this doesn't encourage everyone to do the right thing. All it does is make the government agency deserving of scorn.
Davis Seecamp, Trevallyn.
Pooseum versus Prison
CLARENCE City Council is removing a sign from in front of Richmond's "Pooseum" because it's a risk to the town's "historic cultural heritage significance".
Wow, that's a serious dedication to retaining the heritage value and image of Tassie's tourism villages. Meander Valley Council, please protect the "historical cultural heritage significance" of Westbury and all your historic villages. Forcing a max-security prison on a village would be a lot more risky to its historical and cultural heritage than a Pooseum sign.
R Wood, Westbury.
Implications of climate activists actions
WITH the news that the performance of Australian students is continuing to decline as measured by PISA, I am surprised that someone has not yet pinned the blame on climate change.
This week, United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres claimed "life itself" will be in peril without immediate action.
Greta Thunberg says "people are dying" because of climate change. Yet, climate-related deaths have declined by 95 per cent in a period that broadly coincides with global temperatures rising by approximately 1.1 degrees from their pre-industrial average.
Moreover, as global emissions have risen over the past 30 years, poverty has decreased by about three-quarters and millions have been saved from premature death. Inevitably as poor countries become richer, the use of fossil fuels will increase until they become middle-income nations. If the scientific consensus is correct, the only plausible way to keep temperature increases to below two degrees is to unfeasibly prevent the development of the third world, at least until renewables become an effective substitute.
That will result in millions remaining in poverty than otherwise would be the case.
Unsurprisingly, some things are more complicated than activists - who incidentally tend to have some of the world's highest carbon footprints - lead us to believe.
Aaron de Wit, Riverside.
Christmas
I WAS watching the news tonight and felt sad that most charities were down on donations this year, sadly I can't give what I gave last year - why? Most years I give $100 to the ABC giving Tree and $100 to local charities, but this year, charity begins at home because I have to replace a solar panel for $500 thanks to the three kids walking past my house who threw a rock on my roof. Who knows, maybe these kids come from families who could have benefited from my donations we will never know.
Beverley Wallace, George Town.
