Worse, the terrible conditions that the livestock is now subject to.

As part of the condition of the original sale, the new owners were required to ensure that conditions on those farms, and staffing levels, were kept to specified levels.

In this, it has been an abject failure.

Sacking local experienced and qualified staff and replacing them with expatriate unqualified staff is a recipe for maximum profit and a guaranteed disaster for the animals and infrastructure.

I wrote to the federal minister and complained that it was unacceptable and disgraceful. No surprise this last week authorities are crawling all over the farms.

Moon Lake Investments is now trying to shirk its contracted responsibility by selling off the farms that are in the worst condition.

No surprise at that, that is how these bastards operate. Make a pot of money by running everything into the ground then try and offload the huge problems they have created. This must not be permitted.

The minister concerned must ensure that any sale transaction ensures that the cost associated with putting right the mess is to be deducted from the sale price sought by the Chinese owners. If that means they get nothing, serve them right.

A PRIVATE hospital located in the near vicinity of the public Launceston General Hospital is supposed to be a boon for public health delivery in the North.

How? Why? Attempts to establish an emergency department in a private hospital failed because private hospital management were not prepared to fund emergency services to the level required for a successful operation and the initiative quickly returned to the public system and the fine staff of the LGH. The sell-off of part of the Royal Hobart Hospital to the private sector has not been a win for public health in Hobart despite claims that might be made on behalf of users of the private hospital. Public health should be the prime objective of a government.

TASMANIA has lately been advocating a lot of sites and read ups for people involved with domestic violence and kudos indeed.

Now take a step back and think about mature couples that were raised to listen and obey all. I say couples because men and women are both often involved in this terrible dilemma. Yes, naturally fights and discord happen when people are in an emotional vortex, such is life. The silent ones are the couples that die with their secrets.

Could you ever imagine an aged couple, man or woman calling a strange telephone number to tell a stranger that their beloved spouse of 40/50/60 years has been beating them up and or either treating them with contempt albeit has dementia or Alzheimer's, I think not?

We have become aged care incompetent.

Domestic abuse advocacy needs to have a very large spectrum and encompass all, irrelevant of age and gender.

FOR years now many of us have been fully away of the high suicide rate among returned servicemen and women.

But nothing has been done.

Like the royal commission into black deaths in custody, those impacted by the suicide of loved ones may have also to wait for 30 years (or more) until any action is taken. Similarly with aged care and many other attempts to rectify a wrong.

Royal commissions are becoming 10 a penny - a lot of noise, report writing, blustering and puffing out of chests not to mention a huge expense resulting in recommendations filed away and forgotten.

But at least it gives the appearance that something is being done.

The solutions to these issues, affecting so many thousands of people, could easily and more efficiently be found by experts in the field without all this pathetic pompous posturing. Unfortunately, there is not enough intelligence, imagination or guts in the government to take such a radical course of action. Where there's a will there's a way but sadly all pollies can think about is gaining enough votes in the next election by banking on the short term memories of their voters hoping they will remember only the latest royal commission.

I'M WRITING to let your readers know that if they have questions about prostate cancer, our new Specialist Telenursing Service has answers. With just a phone call, men who are living with prostate cancer can talk to an expert nurse who understands what they are going through and can explain their treatment options and side effects of the disease. Forty-five Australian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer today, our sons, fathers, brothers and mates.

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