Access to national flags
TAKING into account that I am a son of a late Anzac (World War II and Korean) and how I feel about Anzac Day (Remembrance Day) may be a little different from the average Australian norm nowadays.
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But you'd think people like myself could purchase an Australian flag just prior to Anzac Day, especially from the multinational supermarkets.
You know, like Woolies Easter eggs available at Christmas time, but oh no.
Given the current worldwide SARS-COV-2 virus (my father fought in worldwide battles), I guess I'll just settle for drawing the Southern Cross in the sand.
Lest we forget.
A R Trounson, Needles.
Life After the Virus
NO doubt once the coronavirus passes, politicians will turn their focus on how to pay down the $200-plus billion stimulus bill that was necessarily incurred to keep our economy afloat.
Would it be realistic to expect that the bipartisanship shown by political parties in fighting the epidemic continue in the endeavour to pay down the debt?
Perhaps not, but pollies of all colours may like to consider the following: Australia has one of the lowest GST rates amongst major economies; budgeted GST collections for 2019/20 were around $70 billion; if GST rates were raised to 15 per cent an extra $35 billion per year would be collected.
Clearly those on pensions, Newstart and other welfare payments need to be fairly treated and a corresponding increase of 5 per cent would more than compensate these recipients (given that food is GST free).
A reduction in the tax rate for low income earners could also be part of the discussion. GST is a highly efficient tax in that businesses collect the tax on behalf of the government. It is also a fair tax in that those that consume the most pay the most.
Our country has been well led during the pandemic. Will it be equally well led as we look to economic recovery?
Denis Hume, Riverside.
Baby Boomers considered
ON reading the article penned by Senator Peter Whish-Wilson I feel he may have been a bit hard on the "Baby Boomer" age group (The Examiner, April 22).
Maybe he should have gone one generation back to the parents of Baby Boomers and heaped thanks on their hardship and their experiences through the hardships of war and the years after .
I read the article a couple of times and it seemed more like a vote grab from any millennials - if they read it .
Australia may have been a different place but for the Baby Boomer's parentage, but I am not a totally unreasonable person.
So I thank the "young Millenials" who have followed the rules to keep us old feeble well-off Boomers that have worked and saved and gone without to give our kids (Millennials parents ) hopefully a better life.
Interesting read Senator, but I still feel it was a reach too far for young votes for the Greens. Good Luck.
Steve Rogers, South Launceston.
Tennis is a low threat
WITH golfers already allowed to play their sport, tennis players will have their fingers crossed that courts will be reopened when community sport restrictions (due to coronavirus) are lifted next month.
The length of a tennis court is 23.7 metres long and almost 11 metres wide. Surely that is more than ample distance for players to keep to the 1.5 metres distancing rule, either in singles or doubles? Hopefully the new changes will also see the two-person rule replaced with a more reasonable limit.
Even so, if four people are allowed to walk in pairs 23 metres apart, without being pulled up for breaking the two-person limit, two tennis pairs should be able to get their exercise a similar distance apart.
Reopening clubhouses, where people may gather in numbers, is a different issue. For the time being, we can have cups of tea and biscuits at home, we just want to play the sport we love out in the sunshine and fresh air.
A very small danger with tennis, only while the virus is still with us, is from the players handling the tennis balls. This remote risk could easily be overcome by the players wearing gloves.
Then factor in, that the odds of anyone in Tasmania catching the virus would have to be one in multiple thousands, and it's obvious tennis is a healthy and safe game when played responsibly even in the current circumstances.
Ian Macpherson, Newstead.
Proposals have their place
I WOULD like to thank the Launceston City Council for knocking back the Basin Skyway proposal.
It was completely inappropriate like some of the recent and current big ticket, high rise hotel proposals, pitched at a narrow band of tourists who seem to be just busily working their way through bucket lists and building their online, selfie empire.
Thanks to COVID-19 they are very thin if not extinct on the ground right now which exposes a big gap in the business plan. Encouraging visitors who will get up off the bus to just walk around the Basin and Gorge is what the city really needs - not to mention having a more pristine geographic phenomenon for the locals to enjoy.
Can you imagine the New Yorkers giving up a chunk of Central Park for something similar? The Londoners, Hyde Park, the Parisians and Berliners. That sort of tourism is just the equivalent of fast food outlets.
They have their place, but would anyone even think of replacing the Seaport or Stillwater with Maccas or KFC? I suggest they try the Gold Coast.
M Seward, Port Fairy.