HOMELESSNESS WEEK
WHETHER you see them or not, they are there. As we enter Homelessness Week (August 1-7), every night there are more than 116,000 people who are homeless and don't have somewhere safe or secure to sleep, including 1622 in Tasmania.
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There are many reasons why people face homelessness, for some it's family breakdown, domestic and family violence, job loss or financial pressures, while others have fallen through the cracks of our mental health system. At Mission Australia, we hear the cries for help on the frontline.
Many of our services are at capacity, with people unable to access the support they need. There simply aren't enough safe, secure homes to house people. That shouldn't be the case in a nation like ours.
We anticipate August's 2021 Census will show an increase in homelessness.
We want to see a national plan to end homelessness in Australia, led by the federal government, that aims to prevent people from becoming homeless and rapidly re-house them if they do.
I encourage everyone to join me and the thousands of others who are calling on political leaders near and far to make the changes needed to end homelessness.
Please also consider signing up to the Everybody's Home campaign to call for solutions to end homelessness at everybodyshome.com.au
There was a distinct lack of leadership in the federal budget, we need to do better.
Mychelle Curran, Mission Australia state director.
What do you think? Send us a letter to the editor:
OLYMPIC SPORTSMANSHIP
THE inevitable comparison between former Olympic swimming gold medallist Shane Gould and gold medallist Ariarne Titmus will be a current and continuing media debate.
The rise and rise of Titmus at the Tokyo Olympics has been a wonderful inspiration for the nation, but one of the highlights at the Olympics poolside has been the grace and sportsmanship of American champion swimmer Katie Ledecky.
Ledecky, widely regarded as the greatest female swimmer of all time, recognised by Titmus for driving the standard of contemporary world female swimming, is a credit to her beloved sport.
Please spare a moment for 14-year-old Canadian Olympic swimmer Summer McIntosh, whose coach died in April last year, and father Greg, is recovering from cancer, made the final of the much anticipated 400m freestyle event between Titmus and Ledecky - her mother Jill, represented Canada in the pool at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Kenneth Gregson, Swansea.
SUPERMARKET CHECKOUTS
JOHN Malouf seems to have missed one major reason why people avoid self checkouts. As confirmed to me by more than a handful of conversations at the supermarket, many would rather wait, for as long as necessary.
Being encouraged to use a robot to pay for their goods where once a cheerful interaction was welcome leads some to wonder exactly what society will look like when many levels of work, which are sustenance for people, are no longer available.
Many do not believe the motivation of the tech developers and marketers is actually to rescue people from the less interesting jobs or to make life more tolerable in any way for the average punter, as the rhetoric I hear repeated ad infinitum would have us believe.
Delia Ratcliff, Launceston.
COVID-19 LESSONS
IF there is anything of value to learn from this COVID-19 pandemic, it's that no matter who you are or what you possess we are after all only human and are all on this Earth together. But then I ask what is the lesson that we have learnt when one sees the greed and selfishness and arrogance that is running rampant?
This pandemic has brought out the very best in some, but the worst in others.
So many are under the false impression that they are special and can carry on regardless without a thought or care for others.
Why should they spoil their fun and lifestyle for others? Until these selfish individuals realise that the world doesn't revolve around them, this COVID-19 is going to be following us for a very long time, and we all have to adjust to changes and cease the whinging and moaning that is driving me bonkers. So, get over it and do the right thing for maybe once in your life.
Jo Ford, Legana.
SOLAR POWER RATES
I HAVE heard excuses in my time but Aurora's excuse for the fall in feed-in rates doesn't pass the pub test or any other logic for that matter.
I have solar panels and was getting paid 8.6 cents before the price reshuffle, my neighbour who doesn't have solar was paying 26.7 cents for power, so my power left my house and he used it and the company pocketed 18 cents for transmission of my power to my neighbour's house 25 metres away.
If that's not profiteering then I don't know what is. And who is this regulator who sets prices? Just another bunch of bureaucrats put in place to make sure the government reaps the benefits of our outlay.
The government was the one who encouraged people to install solar and now that they have their water supply and are being supplemented by wind power they want the ordinary bloke to prop the economy up. It's theft even if it is subtle.
Ken Terry, Bridport.
REDUCED BANK HOURS
MOST people don't need to go into branches these days. Most banking can be done at the touch of a finger using the banking APP. Even deposits can be done by using the ATMs these days.
