UMPIRE ABUSE
AS a former football umpire, I often take the opportunity to go and support my mates who still get out there every weekend to do their very best.
Usually the banter from the crowd is light hearted and something umpires have no issue with. However, the behaviour from the crowd at the Northern Tasmanian Junior Football Association grand finals held at Longford was nothing short of shockingly disgraceful and abysmal.
Parents/adults/officials, in front of the kids, were calling umpires the vilest of names and that they were cheats.
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Many umpires have said to me that they will no longer officiate at junior football games as the behavior and abuse from parents, coaches and officials is not worth tolerating.
It is junior football where kids should be learning about having a passion for the game and not having adults use vile abusive language towards umpires.
The NTJFA should hold its collective head in shame and make a public apology to the umpires.
Geoff McLean, Launceston.
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BIG BOXES
I'M not a whizz at physics, however the three big box warehouses at Inveresk suggest a problem; apart from traffic movement.
In the event of a large flood which as we are aware is imminent, the large footprint of these buildings could elevate the flood to a slightly higher level.
That is if these buildings are waterlight , which could be achieved with forward planning. Naturally water finds its own level and if rejected in one place, will find another.
This of course applies to all the buildings at Inveresk, including those of UTAS, and no I wouldn't want flood water up to my roof.
Ron Baines, Kings Meadows.
BORDER RESTRICTIONS
The best way to keep Tasmania's economy open is to keep our border closed.
Tasmania's border restrictions are good on both health and economic grounds. NSW and Victoria are experiencing protracted lockdowns and surging COVID infections. They have the worst of both worlds while Tasmania has the opposite, no lockdowns and zero COVID.
Premier Gutwein should ignore the Prime Minister's rhetoric about learning to live with COVID and protect Tasmania from the virus for as long as possible.
We should aim for a vaccination rate of at least 90 percent of the eligible population.
Tom Nilsson, Eaglehawk Neck.
DREDGING FUNDING
WITH respect to Jim Collier, $4 million won't even cover the bureaucratic paperwork and planning let alone rid the estuary of any mud.
After years in the dredging industry (beginning in the Tamar) I know that the funding proposed is nothing more than "keep the whingers quiet" payment. The infrastructure and equipment needed to clean the river comes at such a price that $400 million might just get you started on a project that will take years to complete, and in fairness will need some kind of future strategy for maintenance silt reduction to be a permanent consideration.
Too many politicians and residents don't understand the complexities of the estuary and therefore have no idea on how long and how complicated the silt removal will be.
