Add to this the "student free days" which generally fall either before or after term school holidays (and before the inevitable uproar this comment occurs) I acknowledge this time is for teachers professional development. I'm wondering how much better each students' educational outcome would be if they were taught for an extra eight (or so) weeks per year?

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As a specialist medical practitioner I have seen several innovations in health care since arriving in Launceston from Victoria. There is an active private emergency department in Hobart at Lenah Valley Calvary Hospital. It would be good to plan ahead for such a facility in Launceston.

It would expedite care for people who are happy to pay for emergency care. They exist. It would also decrease attendances at the public hospital emergency department.

Suitable specialists in emergency medicine would be attracted if such an innovative department is made available to the community. "Build it and they will come."

If all is in order (i.e. the government, defined by of its majority of members) the opposition leader will always lose a "no-confidence" vote in their leadership, were such a motion put to parliament (as suggested in The Examiner, May 29).

Perhaps if the government diverted the $1.3 billion going to cover wasteful forestry losses into our hospitals, policing and schools our situation would improve?

I see that sadly another eight innocent lives have been taken in yet another mass shooting in the USA where these events are multiplying with every passing day.

Thank the Lord that, after the horror of Port Arthur, John Howard had the courage, against vociferous opposition, to bring in strong gun control laws here. The result is that here the great Australian dream, although becoming increasingly hard, is to own your own home. The great American dream? It's just staying alive for another day.

A schism between neighbouring councils Glamorgan Spring Bay and Sorell is partly responsible for the condition of the gravel Wielangta Road between Orford and Copping. GSBC obtained funding for resurfacing the road within its municipal boundary, but the Sorell Council determined it had not the funds, nor the desire to resurface the road within the municipality of Sorell.

The state government must show leadership by taking ownership and responsibility for the aforesaid co-council road, instead of placing advertising signs on the Tasman Highway, which at present, can only be partly accessed.

'Ms Jane Halton AO PSM presented the final report of the National Review of Hotel Quarantine" - a quote from the media statement from the National Cabinet on October 13, 2020. It is now June 2021. This raises the question - if the report was so unreliable why was Jane Halton asked to chair the review? This must be the case as that was seven months ago.

We have been consistently and persistently told that hotel quarantine is 99.9 per cent reliable. Really? There have been 17 episodes of failure each of which has led to lockdowns and huge cost. The role of a government is to provide services the community needs - not to make daily announcements (often old news) complete with photo opportunities aimed at its own survival. Now the Northern Territory is to be left to run Howard Springs. A small territory will carry the responsibility. But PM avoiding responsibility - imperative.

Here we are with the fourth lockdown in Victoria with businesses bearing the brunt of ruin. What do we do? We load footballers on planes and export them to the lucky states which haven't been in the same position as Victoria. Then we have our premier, who has been firm where the virus is concerned, talking to the footy boss of Tasmania being a hub for his teams. Get real. If we haven't had a case for a year why invite the possibility of it arriving again? As for the PM and his handling of the disaster he seems to palm the blame onto anyone but himself.

There is no question that the ideology of small government and minimal intervention has led to the current outbreak of COVID in Victoria. Yes, there has been serious government intervention with JobSeeker and JobKeeper but this is an outlier. This is fundamentally a Labor policy as evidenced with the GFC but full credit to the federal government and the the national Cabinet. Great and much needed initiatives.

But now they are reverting to type. How else do you explain the reluctance to get on the front foot with a national quarantine plan that includes purpose built facilities? How else do you explain the reluctance to ramp up and promote vaccination in the manner of the the US and the UK? Make no mistake the politics behind this are truly Machiavellian - take full credit at every opportunity, shift the blame wherever you can and avoid responsibility at every opportunity. Our PM is a master at this.