It has not been disclosed exactly how much they paid the NSW

based "Why Leave Town Promotions" firm but it has been widely publicised that Bell Bay Aluminium contributed $20,000.

So, the very people who are telling us to spend our money in George Town have given their money to NSW.

Hypocritical?

THE Major Projects bill is a slap in the face of democracy.

The Minister has the power to declare a project a major one; there is no room for significant input either by the public or by our elected representatives in the areas affected, and there is no right of appeal. The Labor Party is no better; it seems they too would like to ride roughshod over public feeling and public opinion.

IN response to John Coulson (The Examiner, September 8), the petroglyphs were stolen. This means no permission was given for them to be taken.

It is as simple as that. The stolen property needs to be returned to the area it was taken from. The Aboriginal story of creation was taken away with the theft of our petroglyph.

In the name of reconciliation, the petroglyphs should be returned.

The return of the petroglyphs to the area where it belongs will restore the creation story of the palawa people. Correcting a wrong is the definition of reconciliation.

SOMETHING is a bit out of whack when farmers can't get their crops harvested because of a lack of labour.

Labour that predominantly comes from the mainland to do the seasonal picking.

With unemployment levels at 6 per cent in Tasmania surely we can help out this year with the border restrictions in place. It will shorten the unemployment ques for a few months and lessen the amount of wastage the farmers are facing at the moment.

It's a perfect opportunity for the unemployed to earn a few dollars.

We need to back our farmers to the hilt.

THE Anti-Discrimination Commissioner says that Senator Claire Chandler's comments that women's sports, toilets and change rooms should remain female-only spaces "could be considered offensive, intimidating, insulting, ridiculing or humiliating" for male-born people who now identify as women. These males make up around 0.6 per cent of the population. Actual women, the ones who were born female, make up 50 per cent of the population. The vast majority of these women feel that men invading women's toilets, sports, and other female-only spaces is offensive, intimidating, insulting, ridiculing and humiliating.

IT is all very well for Minister Michael Ferguson to oppose the VAD Bill (The Examiner, September 14) but successive governments have failed Northern Tasmanians by not providing excellent end of life services and a dedicated facility. Is it any wonder people see VAD as their only option for a peaceful death? Several years ago The Friends of Northern Hospice presented the then Health Minister Ferguson with plans for a 10 bed dedicated hospice, providing a homelike, tranquil setting with easy access to gardens, within close proximity to the LGH.

The proposed plan was big enough to bring all things palliative and end of life under one roof with one number to call 24/7 to access assistance.

This offer was refused and instead, the Minister commissioned a $100,000 (flawed) feasibility study which found services were adequate for the next two decades - really?

"ENDING is better than mending" - Aldous Huxley - Brave New World (1932).

Some 88 years after this futuristic novel was penned, what a bereft dystopian world we are now living in, where prematurely ending lives by voluntary assisted suicide is once again being considered in our parliament, rather than mending live through proper medical attention and palliative care.

"Ending is better (cheaper, easier, more clinical, more convenient, less bothersome and less hassle) than mending".

I seriously hope that our elected parliamentarians will have a far brighter future in mind for all Tasmanians than Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

MINISTER Michael Ferguson (The Examiner, September 15) is incorrect in his statement that VAD encourages suicide.

Comments like that create sensationalism and fear, therefore putting doubt in the minds of those who do not understand it properly. He also states that the proposed bill is complex, hard to read and is very long.

Yet, independent Mersey MLC Mike Gaffney has stated that he has offered all members a meeting to discuss the bill to which Mr Ferguson has not accepted, nor has he attended any of Mr Gaffney's forums. Mr Ferguson should contact Mr Gaffney at the earliest opportunity to get a better understanding of the bill before he makes an uninformed vote when the time comes.

May I also suggest Senator Eric Abetz and others who call the bill suicide do the same.