It is way overtime for the Tasmanian government to have the courage to require customers of businesses to be vaccinated and reduce these quarantine requirements.

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Businesses will be closed down regardless of what the government says as they won't have any staff left able to come to work.

Employers need to prepare for massive amounts of remote work and disruption to business for everyone.

COVID-19 is a global problem, so before a vaccine goes into the arm of an unwilling person, anywhere in the world, it should go into the arm of a willing person, anywhere in the world.

The question of whether or not mandatory vaccination is ethically justified is an important one that needs to be considered carefully. But, as it happens, there is an overriding ethical priority that means we can take some time to think about this question.

The overriding priority is this: before anyone in the world is vaccinated mandatorily, everyone in the world who freely wishes to be vaccinated should be.

HERE we go, another strain of COVID.

How long will it take this time for the Canberra clowns to shut all the gates?

We know from last time (Delta variant) that trickling people into the country via quarantine facilities doesn't stop it, so when are we going to blanket ban international arrivals or are we going to wait till it gets loose in the population again?

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This country has got to learn to stand on its own two feet and stop relying on imports, foreign workers, foreign-made goods, foreign food imports, tourists etc. and go back to living in isolation like in the old days.

There was no need to have foreign input, we just muddled along and everyone was happier.

This new strain is taking hold here. We will not have the people and resources to handle it and so how long will it take for the LNP to wake up to the fact that their profits are going to have to take a hit for the population to survive.

THE recent admission by the Reserve Bank of Australia that the unprecedented cost of housing is due to historic low interest rates, aided and abetted by lump-sum payments by state governments to first home buyers, which is duly priced into the housing market.

Asking prices, normally ambitious claims in some circumstances, are exceeded by $200,000 for example, formally known as "gazumping", in a "hot" property market is an all-pervasive phenomenon, until interest rates ultimately rise?

ON reflection, Tim Paine has been shabbily treated by Cricket Australia.

The former Test captain is being pilloried for something he did back in 2017, before he was appointed into a leadership position.

To make matters worse, Paine was cleared of not breaching the code of conduct before his captaincy appointment.

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Surely what consenting adults do in their own time, outside the boundaries of cricket, is up to them and should be left as a private matter?

It certainly does not deserve the loss of a position of leadership because another assemblage of managers and board members have retrospectively denounced Paine's former acquittal.

Paine is a person of substance who has proven his leadership qualities in the most difficult of circumstances.

His open acknowledgement of a past indiscretion is between the parties concerned and should have no bearing on whether or not he captains the Australian cricket team.

WELL done to Bridget Archer for defying her party and supporting an effective National Integrity Bill.

A federal election is looming and politicians in marginal seats such as ours will be speaking out at last.

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Voters curious to know how local members such as Bridget Archer and Wendy Askew have voted in parliament over the last two and a half years can now access the site "They Vote For You". These people speak and act in parliament on our behalf.

Their voting record reflects consistently how little regard they have for those of us who are not wealthy, powerful or Liberal.

THE passing of Don Grimes is not simply the passing of a significant figure but the passing of one of the greats of the Australian political and social sphere.

In many respects he was an accidental politician and never really sought the limelight, but simply found it enough to serve.

Nevertheless, he was one of the central pillars of the Hawke government and one of the architects of its success.

He was a highly intelligent believer in sound social policy and much of the legacy in health, community and aged care owes a profound debt to Don Grimes.

The unravelling of his sound policy in aged care can be seen in the unfortunate consequences of last years' pandemic toll in Victoria.

There are few in political life who merit unreserved respect, but Don Grimes was one the deserved greats.