It seems that some people think it's the be-all and end-all of what we need.

For heaven's sake, we have a crap health system and people being unable to afford a house or unable to find anything to rent and that's all that some people can think about.

We can't find enough players for local clubs and where on earth are the millions of dollars coming from for an AFL team?

It's about time we had our priorities right and that's health, housing and education.

I AM writing from the not-for-profit Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia to urge people who have mental health issues to reach out and get help.

We know there is a lot of help out there. We know not enough people are accessing that help. Our latest awareness initiative highlights that mental illness is much more common than many people might think.

Data reveals 45 per cent of all Australians will experience a mental disorder at some point. In the past 12 months alone, one in five Australians has experienced a mental health disorder.

For instance, 50 per cent of people with schizophrenia now attempt suicide.

The ridiculous myths around this condition need to be busted. It is completely unacceptable that people with schizophrenia are likely to live 19 years less than people who do not have the condition. Tragically this gap continues to widen. Around 700,000 Australians have a severe mental illness.

We want people to realise they are not alone and support is actually out there.

The fellowship has a free phone line to offer people advice on where to get more support. People need to do is call 1800 985 944 or visit minetworks.org.au.

MUCH is presently being said about the extravagant salaries of our politicians.

Four of our state premiers get over $400,000 per year. That's more than the American President. We are so over-governed in Australia that we have 12 federal senators per state while America seems to be able to function with only two per state.

I'VE got an idea.

Would it be possible for our girls as they start school to have self-defence classes included in their PE lessons?

These skills would be valuable throughout their lives as all women should be able to defend themselves if being attacked.

"SORT out fact from myth (The Examiner, May 28).

Evil exists while good people do nothing, "logically" explain away local, past and present crimes against humanity, and rejoice in humiliating benevolence.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".

This known memento of George Santayana appears on tablets in many places.

It can also be observed on a visit to Auschwitz.

Here in 2021, Tasmania, Australia, the white Australia policy, colonial policy is ever present, be it behind closed doors or openly celebrated.

While we continue to honour or explain away John Batman's crimes we honour or explain away Tasmania's, Australia's crimes against humanity. It's time we stop celebrating invasion, murder, rape and theft.

Stop labelling our past and neo-colonial crimes against humanity cold hard facts as myth, exaggeration, fabrication.

Stop the suppression and oppression because we Tasmanians, we Australians cannot afford to carry our 250-year-old, always broken culture of violence, of humiliating benevolence of victim-survivor blaming, this arrogant, ignorant capitalist church and state power overload into the future.

I ECHO Brian Wightman's concerns (The Sunday Examiner, May 9) about Tasmanians entering into a salmon war.

The more tragic if it is fuelled by the misinformation so freely available on social media and in opinion pieces such as Richard Flanagan's recent book, Toxic.

I agree that to break down Flanagan's arguments we need a school of facts.

Fortunately, many are freely available in the scientific literature, government websites and on the websites of the companies themselves.

Sadly, this is ignored by those with a NIMBY agenda.

Drive around Tasmania and observe the vast areas that have been cleared for agriculture; devoid of any natural vegetation, with introduced food crops and animals.

This is not to criticise agriculture; it is a necessary part of our existence.

But in the context of salmon farming it may surprise to know that if we put all Tasmanian salmon cages in one place, they would cover less than one square kilometre, a tiny fraction of our state waters.

Tasmanian salmon farming is recognised as being among the best in the world with an Aquaculture Stewardship Council's tick of approval; an independent, scientifically-backed gold standard for environmental stewardship and sustainability.

Why is this so hard to understand and accept?

Equally disturbing is how the industry is portrayed in the media as anything but responsible, with little attempt to balance the debate.