COVID IN TASMANIA
NOW that we have all been thrown to the wolves, sadly it's survival of the fittest. Some will live with COVID but some will not. Experts say it's now too late for NSW to turn back but Tasmania is on the brink so we still have that choice.
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Peter Gutwein, please! Scott Morrison is backpedalling on the science with such speed that oozlum birds are circling and words like "disappear" and "fundamental orifice" come to mind.
H Donaldson, Westbury.
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY
CONSIDERING that we have now entered the "hydrogen age" for marine propulsion and Tasmania is set to become the "battery of the nation", especially with a new hydrogen production plant in the Tamar, will the new ships be taking advantage of these advanced, world-class, leading Tasmanian energy resources?
This is a great opportunity for Tasmanians and the economy to show world leadership by adopting clean, affordable hydrogen and electric energy technology to efficiently drive these modern and efficiently designed world-class ships.
Robert McMahon, Pyrmont, NSW.
WHO BENEFITS?
THE recent articles regarding (ab)use of so-called e-scooters by certain users really brings to the fore the basic question of just what is the net benefit of these devices.
Leaving aside electric assisted/powered bicycles, which are used on roads or dedicated paths, there are a number of comparable personal, electric vehicles available but generally confined to use by people with limited personal mobility to start with.
These units (e-scooters) are not so confined in application but seem to be more pandering to people who are just too plain lazy to walk around town and seem just a magnet to the selfish and even hoon-minded fringe.
As Cicero put it more than 2000 years ago, "Cui bono?" - "who benefits?" A most succinct yet profound examination of the matter methinks, and I can't think of a reasonable answer at a community level.
Thalidomide cured headaches and morning sickness but that is hardly the issue. DDT, laudanum, tobacco have all had their day, too. Not all novelty is progress. COVID-19 is new too ...
M. Seward, Port Fairy.
BAN E-SCOOTERS
WITHIN 10 minutes, I saw two males riding pillion on an e-scooter, one with a helmet and one without, racing down the hilly end of George Street.
Then, I saw two males without helmets crossing a red light in Tamar Street. I've seen several families with children as young as 8, along Invermay Road.
I thought it was illegal for under-16s to use e-scooters? Some younger children weren't wearing helmets, though their parents were. E-scooters are dangerous; how long will it be before serious injuries - or death - occur with children and pedestrians, as has happened in other states and countries?
On another note, are they sanitised before each use? Potentially, the e-scooters are also COVID spreaders. A dangerous experiment that someone will pay for. Ban them before it's too late.
Amy Silver, Launceston.
TAMPERING WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
THE release of the 2001 cabinet papers once again focuses on one of the sorriest chapters of Australian political life - when its refugee policy became disconnected from human rights.
The Tampa incident became the template for the subsequent treatment of all asylum seekers who dared to enter Australia by sea. Non-assistance to refugees at sea is not an option.
In 2001, the captain of the Norwegian freighter Tampa responded to a distress call from the Indian Ocean where he found more than 400 mostly Hazara asylum seekers floundering on a wooden boat.
This moral obligation to rescue seafarers is backed by the United Nations Convention of the Law at Sea and the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. Rescuers are also obliged to make sure that those who are picked up from the sea are deposited in a safe place.
Captain Arne Rinnan was directed by the Howard government to take them back to Indonesia. He refused and the boat ended up in Australian territorial waters.
The subsequent Pacific Solution ensured that no refugees who came by boat would enter Australia.
The Australian government continues to punish people whose only crime is to seek asylum from persecution.
Ed Sianski, West Moonah.
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