As a result of the closure of the borders and of the cancellation of Jetstar flights, we are still confined in Tasmania - for more than two months now. Premier Mr Peter Gutwein has announced that he will not be making a decision on opening the borders for another month.

We admire and support all the decisions that the premier has made on matters related to the pandemic, from the gradual lifting of health restrictions to his economic stimulus packages.

We couldn't have chosen a better place in the world to be confined, so much so, that we have been strengthened in our decision to make Launceston our home city, for good, as soon as we are over the pandemic.

During our walks we have had the opportunity to discover what Launceston offers to its residents and visitors in beautiful parks and in heritage buildings. We have come to realise that Tasmania is part of Australia, but different. Bravo Premier.

I COMPLETELY agree with the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania's suggestion to have free travel for passengers and their vehicles, or at least heavily subsidised, on the Spirit of Tasmania.

The tourism industry here in Tasmania and the rest of Australia is hurting financially due to lack of visitors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and everything that can be done should be done to get the industry up and running again.

I worked in the tourism industry for 45 years and it is very sad seeing friends suffering by having to lay off staff and loss of income. Some small operators may never recover. Prior to the pandemic tourism in Tassie was leading the rest of the country in providing world class tourism and hospitality experiences.

Now it is at a standstill waiting for our borders to open. Locals should travel around their own state putting money into the local economy and seeing what attracts interstate and international visitors here.

Plan a local holiday and help save our tourism industry.

I READ with interest that an Examiner journalist Frances Vinall received four Tasmanian Media Awards. Acting-editor Corey Martin was very generous in his praise for Frances.

Encouragement by others and your peers is worth more than financial reward. Through reading The Examiner's articles and opinion pieces I've discovered a lot of new thoughts, facts and fiction.

At first I was confronted, confused and curious. Over the years of reading, my personal character has been brought into question.

I most certainly am a right-wing conservative, a caustic Christian, a homophobe, a global warming denier, and now according to Frances, a conspiracy theorist suffering with excruciatingly low feelings of self-worth.

One could feel like a low life scum, but hey, this is only a journalist's opinion and not a criminal offence. Why do people believe conspiracy theories? Perhaps it allows them to have an opinion without being reported.

Congratulations Frances on your awards. We need strong opinionated journalists just as we need strong opinionated conspiracists, especially those who have a strong self-esteem and a great sense of humour.

WE as a country now more than ever need to employ Aussies and make things again. An idea I suggested some years ago to Senator Kim Carr was that we should build electric vehicles the size of little smart two-seat cars. But obviously it fell on deaf ears.

If every home leased one for say $1000 per year from the government, we would create jobs and have more money in our pockets through not being extorted for fuel. The cost would be repaid in fuel savings, our parking in cities would be improved, less impact on roads and less pollution given that in most cases, people drive to and from work with only themselves in the car.

We could still have our regular car for times where we need greater capacity. And if electric cars were on a roll in, roll out battery system we could set up service stations in a ring system creating further jobs.

We could have used the GMH production line to produce them and above all we all become shareholders and all benefit. At some point we need to wake up and invest in the future and our children's future, we can't go on being held to ransom over dollar thieves we have so much resources.

WHEN you put powerful people in total charge of powerless children, out of sight and without accountability, those children are highly vulnerable.

Many children were taken from their families because they were deemed to be at risk or neglected.

These children became worse off because their innocence was betrayed by the very people who were supposed to look after them.

The National Redress Scheme is a farce - window dressing of the most cynical kind.

In some cases, it causes further harm to the people it was supposed to help.

Others are locked out altogether because the rules were developed by the powerful interest groups, governments and the major churches.