Letters to the editor | February 17, 2021

Infrastructure, houses, workplaces, schools, playgrounds, dedicated teachers. The love of friends and family.

Seventy hectares near Westbury is reserved for a community of myriad species other than a man. Plants and animals need enough space for biological interactions of intricate complexity, where baby owls, devil pups and pygmy possums; learning and playing are raised to healthy adulthood. Yet of this natural village, the people of our state government deem a right to annex one quarter for a prison of man's making.

Do they miss the point that ecologists such as Rathcke and Jules 'Current Science' 1993* have long been saying; "Habitat fragmentation is one of the most apparent forms of environmental degradation and is often considered to be one of the greatest threats to terrestrial biodiversity".

I LIVE in Trevallyn and experience traffic issues on a daily basis.

Would like to see the access to Trevallyn via Gorge Road to the shopping precinct to become one way.

This then enables the single lane to give greater room and safer access to residents and pedestrians.

THIS pandemic is far from over yet our Prime Minister continues to abrogate his responsibility to the Australian people by failing to protect us from COVID-19.

The promised vaccine will change things for the better but is only one part of a much needed bigger response from the Commonwealth government.

Border protection and that includes quarantine is a Commonwealth responsibility.

A single point of entry into our country for overseas arrivals and a remote quarantine facility managed by the Commonwealth government could avoid a lot of the pain, cost, confusion and disruption caused when state premiers close borders to protect their citizens. Mr Morrison has an opportunity here to show leadership and insist the Commonwealth take over the management and implementation of COVID-19 quarantine and thus relieve the state premiers of the responsibility.

WHAT is left of beautiful Launceston?

Are the ratepayers happy with a council and a government that spends millions of dollars on beautifications, such as the Quadrant, the Mall and now the York Park Stadium? Private developers who want to modify the Launceston port put huge hotels down. This money can and should be spent on more useful projects; after all, they are spending Tasmanians money on these modifications.

Ratepayers wake up.

I HAVE previously written so many letters to the editor of The Examiner on this very subject, and only when it directly affects you do you get angry.

My daughter suffers from a dangerous and debilitating spinal condition after an MRI. She had to present herself to immediate surgery in Hobart, because of the lack of specialist surgeons in Launceston.

After a painful gruelling drive to Hobart and a delicate operation, she was then moved into the small facilities-free emergency room where she was confined for over 24 hours because of the lack of ward beds.

And these stories have been going on for decades. Not talented surgeons or ever-attentive wonderful nurses, but lack of funding for more beds. As a past local government member, I have been told it is all about money. Well if the state's income does not meet current budgets, especially health we all have to bite the bullet and see emergency taxes raised.

We are all in desperate need of a good health system.

We rely on it; then we have to pay.

A small increase could be the answer to elective waiting lists and lack of ward beds and may even cover more specialist surgeons. It is mostly the low paid and less fortunate workers who are suffering as well as those needing ward beds. Be strong, raise the necessary taxes to provide what is without question so desperately needed Good health system.

We are fortunate to have the best health system in the world; let's make it perfect.

I firmly concur that we need a new hospital, but not one which is run by an organisation governed by a religious framework.

Launcestonians must demand a hospital which suits the needs of all.

As a person with no religious beliefs, the bid being considered by the coordinator general, for a co-located hospital, is out of step with the needs of a contemporary community. Currently, our only palliative care services are offered within a religious framework. With voluntary assisted dying laws poised to pass, how would a hospital run on Catholic values adopt the new legislation? We will continue to suffer if religious doctrine continues to be a barrier to person-centred health delivery. We must develop a system where best practice is the only measure. The current bid must be measured against all other offerings. It is incumbent upon health minister and coordinator general to open the bid process.