IN view of the second wave of coronavirus in Victoria, and it's subsequent spread into NSW, this decision by the Tasmanian government is irresponsible. Everyone arriving in Tasmania should be tested and quarantined for 14 days and then retested before they can become part of the community.

Why isn't the government taking this action to protect its citizens?

ANY arrivals into Tasmania after time interstate or overseas should be willing to have mandatory testing if they care about their family, friends, colleagues and community.

JUST one new case of COVID-19 in more than 55 days which is excellent, but then we hear that the AFL is considering coming here for a couple of matches.

Do we really want a group of overpaid guys arriving here with their managers etc when Tasmanians have been trying to come home with various success?

Seeing those team members on TV will they have to go into a 14 days quarantine?

After all, all they seem to do on the field is hug, hit, and yell then after the match they sit on the benches and hawk and spit.

Should we be silly enough to open our borders to them then everyone wanting to come home should be allowed to do so, and if the AFL don't have to quarantine then the question is why should anyone else have to?

CONGRATULATIONS Rob Shaw on your article regarding AFL teams being considered to be playing games in Tasmania at present (The Examiner, July 22).

This article should be compulsory reading for every politician and health department official who even thinks that the time is right to undo the great work that has been done.

Stay Away.

TWO years ago I had open-heart surgery in Melbourne and three days after I unfortunately required prostate surgery. My fellow patients said, "he will not be going home".

I told everyone there "oh yes I am for two reasons: one, I will not leave my beautiful wife on her own, and two, I am not leaving this planet until we beat the red and black rivals over the river". All the troubles in Melbourne were worth it after Saturday's win, except for the virus because we were not allowed to celebrate with them. But I am still very proud of my beloved players.

BASS MHR Lance Barnard from 1954 to 1975 was sorting through his personal papers in late 1996 to decide which ones he would keep and which ones he would hand over to the National Archives of Australia when he saw something that caused him to reflect on the greatest political and constitutional crisis in Australian history, the dismissal of the Whitlam Government by Governor-General Sir John Kerr.

Kerr had not been Whitlam's first, or even second choice for Governor-General to succeed Sir Paul Hasluck, who was due to retire on July 11, 1974.

Whitlam initially offered the position to Kenneth Baillieu Myer, who declined the post. Barnard told me that Whitlam had then offered the position to Barnard himself who was Deputy Prime Minister from December 1972 until May 1974. Barnard told Whitlam "he did not wish to be appointed".

Whitlam then offered the position to Kerr, whose response when offered the job was to say the tax-free salary was not enough. In 1975, Barnard resigned his seat of Bass and accepted the position of Ambassador to Sweden, Finland and Norway. In 1977, Barnard was pressed to accept a KCMG, which is the Order of St Michael and St George, a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818. Barnard politely declined the prestigious award. Had Barnard accepted the position of Governor-General of Australia, Australia's political history would be completely different. Barnard was a loyal deputy to Gough, and as Gough said in a eulogy after Barnard died, he was "My Oldest and best Mate... Lance had an innate decency and integrity, a prince among men". Barnard was a great Australian, he would never have plotted behind his Prime Minister's back, let alone dismissed Whitlam.

THE only RAN ships of equivalent size to the projected ferries, HMAS' Canberra and Adelaide have overseas built steel hulls, which were shipped to Australia where the superstructure and fitout were completed.

Given some Tasmanian companies expertise in aluminium marine fabrication, maybe a similar project with an aluminium superstructure could be considered.

IF local government is the closest to its community and has the greatest sense of place (The Examiner, July 21) council amalgamation could possibly be described as the opposite to a sense of place.

Maybe decentralisation (Remember Whitlam 1974) is the way to go to increase any bond people have between where they live and a better future for the people.