Jo Palmer
CONGRATULATIONS to Jo Palmer on having the courage of her convictions.
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She has given up a good job, in which she could be everybody's darling, to run for office in the rough and tumble, too often thankless, the world of politics.
She could have stood as an Independent and relied on her undeniably widespread popularity to garner votes from across the political spectrum without declaring her political philosophy.
But in the brief media coverage of the announcement of her candidacy she was refreshingly honest.
She wants to be able to influence the decisions of the government on behalf of the electorate, and she will be in a position to do that much more effectively as a member of the governing party than as an Independent.
The country, and the ideal of democracy, need people who are prepared to nail their colours to the mast, say what they believe in and stand by what they believe.
I, for one, sincerely hope the electors of Rosevears give Jo a chance to show her true metal.
John Beswick, Deviot.
Eric Abetz Column
AS ERIC Abetz says of his customary opponent Tanya Plibersek, she was right to propose that schoolchildren pledge allegiance to Australia and its ethos of tolerance and inclusion (The Examiner, February 11).
These values are often interpreted differently but still are surely worth everyone's endorsement. For Plibersek to be pressured into recanting to placate her party's extremists is an indictment of Labor's current leader, "Each Way Albo." Like any virtue, patriotism can be misapplied. Nevertheless, it not only affirms what unites Australians but honours our forebears for sacrifices which elevated this society towards the top of every global list of desirable places to live. If today's youth conclude it's unfashionable to love Australia or praise what produced so many of its blessings, why would they defend and pass down to their own children what it seems trendy to take for granted?
Lew Bretz, St Marys.
Tourism
THE Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania is calling for government funding to support tourism businesses impacted by the downturn in visitors from China due to the Coronavirus "Call to aid tourism operators" (The Examiner, February 14).
He says some businesses are nearly entirely dependent on Chinese tourists and will be impacted severely.
A word of caution, the decline in Chinese tourists predates the coronavirus.
Tourism Tasmania's latest 'Tasmanian Tourism Snapshot' reported a 21 per cent decline in tourists coming to Tasmania from mainland China for the year ending September 2019 compared to the previous year.
This occurred months before the Coronavirus was known about.
The tourism industry needs to explain why Tasmania was losing interest from Chinese visitors before this tragic disease outbreak. The government may end up propping up poorly performing businesses.
Is the current advertising campaign not working, have prices increased or is the quality of visitor experience not high enough for Chinese visitors?
Peter McGlone, Director - Tasmanian Conservation Trust.
Metro changes
I HAVE been following with interest in The Examiner the hardships experienced by people, especially the elderly pertaining to the ridiculous schedules offered by the bus company on the changed routes.
And I am totally convinced the people making the decisions on the routes, never ever use public transport.
They have cars, some of them supplied, along with parking spaces in close proximity to the workplace.
How can they possibly understand that walking long distances for some people is extreme hardship, if at all possible.
And of course parking in close proximity to work keeps them dry on rainy days. Commonsense, compassion and understanding is what is needed.
The people who use public transport are in most cases the strugglers, and are totally reliant on a good service, so why make it harder. Only someone who did not care would do that.
Peter Doddy, Trevallyn.
Inconsistency on buses
I REFER to the article titled "Bus users told to transfer" (The Examiner, February 13). Does the spokesperson from State Growth think the public will swallow such a load of balderdash?
There is inconsistency in that the spokesperson speaks of shortening travel time. Apparently travelling a greater distance between start and finish point, bypassing your finish point, travelling to and transferring to another bus, then returning to finish point, shortens the travel time. There has been no consideration regarding people, possibly unwell, travelling to the LGH, who need short, convenient travel time. Alteration of routes has caused similar inconvenience to other Launceston folk who now need to use two or more buses.
Nothing has been said regarding the previous bus users, elderly and handicapped, who now cannot travel by public transport, due to the distance and difficulty in accessing new bus stops. Easy availability of public transport is a must for all and it is a duty of Metro to provide it. The aims and values of Metro are clearly written in its financial report. These have been compromised by the actions and attitude of both Metro and State Growth and therefore the integrity of these departments is now tarnished. Will Transport Minister Michael Ferguson please rectify these issues, thus helping to restore the ethical standards and reputation of the transport departments, which at the moment appears to be unimportant.
H Parry, Norwood.