USE OF THE RIVER
WITH all the comment and public money being spent on the mudflats and the Tamar River, I remember my mother telling me that when she was young she and her friends use to go on charter ferries down the river for weekend dances and return the same night because in those days not many people had cars. The general use of the river is not worth commenting on, you rarely see a boat and one of the reasons would be the mud.
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When I was younger I can remember the ships coming to Kings Wharf such as the William and Mary Hollyman not to mention the Flinders Trader. The PLA used the dredge Ponrabell to remove the mud.
The whole area of the North and South Esk forming the Tamar River deposits silt every year creating the mudflats will continue every year even if they dam the river to create a big pond.
The raking of the river deposited silt down the river only to partially return on the incoming tide. The Tamar River is an estuarine with the tides partially blocking the silt from travelling further and with the rice grass blocking the banks further down, which is a bigger problem than the mud. The Launceston area has to live with the mud because there is no way we can stop the mud.
Anthony Galvin, Launceston.
TIME TO FIX THE CAUSE
IT IS quite hilarious to see that the state government is saying that if they are re-elected they will spend $5 on fixing the Tamar River.
So far there have been 50-odd studies into the problem, and all that appears to happen is that the money is spent on studies and the river silts up more. Dredging will not fix the problem, the silt comes from upstream.
The plan may be to dredge the mud out, put it on trucks and take it back where it came from. The problem is that nothing is being done to prevent the mud from getting into the river in the first place.
Actions such as repairing riparian zones on rivers and creeks, preventing land clearing on streams etc. One only has to look at what was our pine plantations to see streamside reserves and drainage lines clear-felled. It doesn't take much nous to see where the mud comes from.
So fix the cause, not the outcome.
Peter Godfrey, Nunamara.
THE ELECTION MONEY TREE
I LOVE election time.
It is the only time the government has enough money to attend to all that has been neglected during their time in office.
Finance is no longer a problem.
Horst Schroeder, Devonport.
IN OTHER NEWS:
VICTORIA CROSS HONOUR
HAVING married into the family of Tasmanian Victoria Cross winner, Sergeant Lewis McGee, I am aware of the kind of courage and self-sacrifice required by recipients of this extraordinary award.
Sergeant McGee received his decoration as a result of military action at Passchendale in Belgium during World War I.
Recently, Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheehan was awarded a VC for "conspicuous bravery" onboard HMAS Armidale and joins the other 14 Tasmanians. Victoria Cross recipients are standard-bearers of the selfless actions performed during battle and are a testimony to the kind of behaviour that is best in humanity. It is a tragedy when an award such as this is tarnished by alleged gross, criminal misconduct.
Ed Sianski, West Moonah.
CHARITY STATUS BALONEY
I ABSOLUTELY agree with the state government, why should the Bob Brown Foundation be regarded as a charity foundation?
The word charity means to "help out, largesse, offer relief, be a benefactor" - the Bob Brown Foundation group to my knowledge does none of those things, rather it stops people from lawfully working by antics in our forests.
I have never heard of this foundation offering financial assistance to forest workers who are not able to work because their worksites have been blocked.
Bob Brown where is your charity?
Furthermore, how has the Bob Brown Foundation organisation had the gall to claim JobKeeper allowance - was that to pay your tree climbers?
You and your members ought to be ashamed of your behaviours, I am not against demonstrations, but they need to be done peacefully and constructively, not one that is disruptive and therefore a destructive manner to people trying to earn a living.
June Smith, George Town.
SAVE THE DAM
SAVE the Dam and hand it over to either Hydro for a combined water and wind generator asset with potential tin open cut with smaller dams to ensure Arthur River protection. Encourage trout breeding and recreational no-take fishing and tours to the old magnet mine area, joining magnet mine track to greater forestry roads leading to Smithton. Rather than decommission, offer the sale of the dam and mine lease to the community or North West Aboriginal Society for a token price.
The mine needs clean up and still has tin ore and as an open cut is an ideal site for machinery and environmental training.
Mike Grey, West Tamar.
VALE PRINCE PHILIP
A FOND farewell and a job well done to Prince Philip, the highest-ranking and lowest paid member of three arms of the Australian Defence Force.
For he was Admiral of the Fleet (RAN), Field Marshal (The Australian Army) and Marshal of the RAAF, since April 2, 1954.
And, by all accounts a bloody good bloke.