Australia must come together for Aboriginal reconciliation

England was invaded and conquered by the Romans, Genghis Khan conquered China, killing millions, Spain conquered the Philippines renaming it after their King, King Philip and also Mexico. It was years of brutal conflict and inexcusable actions, but we should not be held responsible; it is our brutal past.

We do so much to look after the Indigenous community, we spend billions yearly on their welfare, plus supplying them with housing and well-furnished offices for them to run their affairs. On a recent date, I have had to be hospitalised with health Issues and when signing in I had to fill out a form asking me if I was Indigenous, when asking what for, they replied, if I was I would get specialised treatment.

Mr Mansell keeps on wanting more, which creates ill feeling and does nothing for the healing process. We are all Australians.

WE could ditch coal tomorrow if we could all go to bed when the sun sets and the wind dies down.

COMMONSENSE and working with nature is the only way to fix the estuary.

The infrastructure in Launceston has gone too far and the only way to fix the problem is to work with what we have. There are sewerage problems, silt problems, flood problems. Deleting the Trevallyn Dam, raking the mudflats, building a barrage down the estuary will not fix the problem. There is only one way to fix the problem. Create a dam by putting a loch in Hunters Cut, dam each end at Stevenson Bend that will be a holding pond for sewerage and stormwater. Create wetlands between Hoblers Bridge and Henry Street.

Create freshwater wetlands where the West Tamar wetlands are with a race running from the Tailrace and going through wetland before being put into the Tamar.

The basin lake will create a silt trap and because the water can be controlled it will make taking silt out easier because the area will be only small. There is a rail line that crosses Henry Street that could be used to take the silt away. There are minor details that I will not go into. Like controlling the floods and restoring the flow through the Cataract Gorge. There is a lot of infrastructure that could be built around this that could make us the tourist capital.

I WISH to thank the Deloraine Ex-Servicemen Club for such a great day on their 70th birthday. The club has been the cornerstone for servicemen and women over those 70 years. Over the years we have had some fantastic days and the tradition continues.

Congratulations to Kevin and Trevor for making us welcome. The merchandise was a good idea, it's a pity a few more didn't support you for your efforts. Special regards to ex-12th Battalion.

A REVIEW into Tasmania's Education Department response to child abuse, unfortunately has a familiar, repetitive cycle of institutional failure.

Failures include the following: To dismiss the allegation, to blame the victim (student), to protect the school's reputation, and if the aforementioned staged process fails, transfer the offending teacher to another school where child abuse continues and proliferates.

School authorities have a duty of care to all students, to protect and provide a safe environment where young people have the freedom to aspire and attain their full potential.

Education Department personnel who knowingly protect paedophiles must be held accountable for their actions, otherwise, the paradigm of child abuse will continue unabated, with lifelong consequences for students who are subjected to opportunistic abuse, attributed partly to a power imbalance between teacher and student.

CALLS from a Tasmanian paedophile teacher's victim for Department of Education staff who were aware of sexual abuse and didn't adequately report it to face relevant criminal prosecution (The Examiner, November 11) are not an unfair request.

Because of the cover-ups and blame-shifting, not only has there been justice denied, but there has also been a delay in accessing vital support services victims required to regain their lives back.

In many instances that support was decades too late.

Child sexual abuse victims can suffer a plethora of life-altering emotions.

This can include, but not limited to, interpersonal relationship issues, personality disorders, loss of trust, psychotic disorders, isolation, and behaviour disorders.

Preventing early access to support services has a ripple effect that reaches a wider network of people. Including friends, the victim's family, and the wider community.

Whilst prosecuting the guilty is important, early support access should be of critical importance.