AGED CARE FACILITIES
AFTER several relatives being in aged care facilities I have the greatest respect for the nurses and carers. In these places, some go over and above their duties with little regard for their health and safety. These Mmen and women are to be commended for that. These people are kind, considerate humans, not machines. One thing that constantly stands out is the lack of staff. It makes one wonder as we grow older what is the most important in these places, the patients or the profit? Some of us elder patients, with no relatives even to say hello to for the day, would love to chat with someone who has the time. They looked after us, now we should be looking after our elderly.
Peggy Barker, Perth.
LENGTHY AMBULANCE WAIT
SARAH Courtney (The Examiner, February 22) tells us she is implementing a new system for when calling Triple-0.
I wish this system was available on November 15 last year when my husband waited more than eight hours for an ambulance in Launceston.
He was eventually airlifted to Hobart for spine surgery.
He spent 10 and a half weeks in Hobart and is still in a rehab unit in Launceston.
I have made several phone calls to the minister's office in Hobart and Launceston and then an email to Sarah Courtney on January 12, all to which I have had no response.
We might have had a better outcome if he had made it to the hospital earlier.
This has been life-changing for us, as we move forward with selling our house to get something more suitable.
Lyn Allen, Newnham.
JOBSEEKER PAYMENTS
THE $25 per week increase to JobSeeker would hardly buy a round of drinks at one of the infamous Canberra bars.
Ed Sianski, West Moonah.
YORK PARK OWNERSHIP
AT the City of Launceston council meeting councillor Nick Daking mentioned that if the Tasmanian government were to take on York Park, it would save the council millions of dollars (The Examiner, February 12). This being the case, maybe it would allow them to put their money where their mouth is and employ a couple of men and a truck to collect the very saleable material from the truck face. I dislike waste and try to use all I can. Our council also dislikes waste, so they bury it, costing $8.4 million.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Ron Baines, Kings Meadows.
CHANNEL GRANTS TO RIVERS
THE only solution for the Tamar River is to pull money in ahead of other projects and hire a big dredge to scoop the mud up with barges to take it out to sea. After this is done, serious effort has to go into sewage treatment including a clampdown on poorly serviced home septic tanks. TasWater must get on with treatment plants - financed and no more talk.
Where the money comes from? Severely cut back on the massive and never-ending roadworks - this state with a small population cannot sustain so much activity; forget the upgrade of UTAS Stadium until the dredging is done; the walking bridge over the North Esk - a massive and over the top structure. All the above projects are done with government grants, so channel these grants into the rivers that need rectifying.
Andrew Seymour-Taylor, Legana.
HONESTY IN ARCHBISHOPRIC
THE Catholic Archbishop of Tasmania, Julian Porteous (The Australian, February 19, Late bid to 'fix dangerous' Tasmanian euthanasia law) pleaded with MPs to "recognise their solemn responsibility to legally protect all human life, particularly the lives of our most vulnerable".
He would say that, wouldn't he?
The Catholic archbishops said the same thing before VAD was legislated in Victoria.
Their doomsday predictions never eventuated. Why do they say it?
A statement some time ago by former Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, reveals the rhetoric.
He said: "Until recently, I would have been fiercely opposed to Voluntary Assisted Dying. My background in the Christian Church could hardly allow me to do otherwise. I would have used the time-honoured argument that we should be devoting ourselves to care, not killing.
I would have paraded all the usual concerns about the risks of "slippery slopes" and "state-sponsored euthanasia".
The fact is that I have changed my mind.
The old philosophical certainties have collapsed in the face of the reality of needless suffering. Let's hear it for honesty in the archbishopric.
Max Sutherland, Victoria.
BASED ON DISHONEST CLAIMS
IT IS now apparent that the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill is based on a dishonest claim.
Advocates have long perpetuated the myth that it will only affect those who voluntarily choose to end their life in this way.
If passed, the legislation will require faith-based hospitals and nursing homes in Tasmania to participate despite their conscientious objections.
Nurses and carers will ultimately be drawn into the scheme against their will.
For them, it will mean mandatory, not voluntary, assistance in dying.
Maree Triffett, Lenah Valley.
NOBODY IS BEING FORCED
THE Bill is about voluntary assisted dying.
It's not about forcing people who don't want it. It should be my decision and my choice when it's time to go, and it is no one else's business.
