Treatment of transgender woman
I FEEL utter disgust at the treatment of a transgender woman (The Examiner, January 12). Not only was the late Marjorie Harwood jailed for a minor offence, she was housed in the men's section of Risdon Prison and allegedly raped by five men- treated like a bit of meat,with nobody showing an ounce of concern that this may happen.
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This is not about me or my beliefs- it's about a human life and the appalling lack of respect that was shown.
Enid Denman, Beauty Point.
Freedom of and from religion
THE irony, that Mary T. Bates demands Christian voices be heard (The Examiner, January 10), whilst simultaneously lamenting that non-believers are using their right to free speech as well, when they object to Christian incursions such as the push for religious education (specifically and exclusively the Christian religion) in public schools, the reading of the Lord's prayer in government buildings, the tax-free status of churches and their political donations to conservative parties, and other such interference in our secular community.
It seems Mary needs to be reminded once again that in Australia she enjoys freedom of religion, but non-believers are entitled to enjoy freedom from religion, which means that whilst she has the prerogative to follow her religion as she sees fit, she has no right to try and enforce her outdated, oppressive, and downright draconian version of morality on atheists, or anyone.
Natasha Foster, Dilston.
US election deniers in Australia?
SO, WE have our own unbelievers in our federal government and they aren't brought into line by their ineffectual leader, Michael McCormack? They refuse to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the US presidential election and are so far right they meet themselves coming back. We also have a prime minister who refuses to condemn Trump for his rhetoric. Let's hope that the same situation doesn't occur in Australia should the party which believes they have a divine right to rule, get chucked out. I'm sure that there are groups here who would be happy to start an insurrection should the unthinkable happen and the opposition win.
Glennis Sleurink, Launceston.
Bob Brown's corporate activism
THE Bob Brown Foundation has made an industry out of catastrophizing the impacts of sustainable timber production.
We should not forget that according to its financial reports, this "charity" needs $750,000 per annum just to keep its corporate staff and the rent paid and tips the rest into paying the legal bills resulting from its criminal workplace invasions.
The winners are corporate activists - not the swift parrot which will continue to nest in the vast areas of forest still available to it (including regenerating post-harvest coups) and be preyed on by the greater glider.
The irony that the greater glider is another species exploited by corporate activism as a fundraising tool. The loser is the environment as we push reliance onto plastic and concrete or timber imported from countries which do not have such strict controls over their timber production. Six trees in 10,000 are harvested and regrown by an industry which provides natural, sustainable timber and fibre, while employing thousands of Australians and supporting regional communities. What does the BBF contribute?
Justin Law, Port Melbourne.
Tamar mud is our problem
ALAN Birchmore knows what he is talking about regarding the state of the upper estuary given that he experienced it both as a youngster before the Trevallyn Dam was installed and his time as LFA chairman more recently after a career in major projects management.
It seems to some degree that NRM and others have a somewhat shallower understanding going by their "learn to love the mud" slogan.
The issue with the "mud" is not that it is a natural part of the estuary but with the sheer quantity of it nowadays and the rapidity with which it returns after scouring (be it by dredging, raking or flood).
The issue is that the historical equilibrium of its extent has been shattered by human action and "the mud" is now an unnatural infestation against a natural presence.
It is now present in areas that were historically free from the "mud" but featured underlying sand-gravel banks of the pre-sea level rise river valley. These are most obvious down the river' at say Swan Point but are also still present close to the visible surface in the Yacht Basin in particular.
The 2016 flood confirmed the latter, as do many historical photographs of the former taken at low tide.
Yes, there was a '"fake beach" of Bass Strait beach sand at Royal Park but it was not laid on mud but on that existing coarse sand-gravel base.
Honestly, how long would the fake beach last if it was laid on a mud bank such as we see now?
Days? Weeks? Gee Errol, there's your solution. Just dump beach sand on the Seaport mud and you have an instant beach).
It is the disruption to the natural flow regime that is the cause of the now excessive presence and rate of return of the "mud".
That disruption has come in the form of reclaiming tidal wetlands which are the spring tide turbochargers of the natural flushing mechanism, the diversion of the South Esk to the power station removing the dominant virtual lake of clean upstream water and then various geometric changes in the Seaport area creating dead spots which favour "mud" settling out. Dumping dredge spoil at Tamar Island and Nelson Shoals has only compounded the issue and kept the upper estuary water-silt concentrations elevated.
Learning to love farming practices might also be a "just turn the other way'' solution for NRM to consider as might be learning to love cheap sewage systems I suppose.
What do you reckon TasWater?
It is time to regenerate the upper estuary not to generate more waffles and reports.
