Upon visiting it this week with some interstate tourists I was aghast, and embarrassed, to find it in such a poor state. The rubbish bin was overflowing, bird droppings and dirt were all over some of the information panels/images, there were cobwebs hanging from the lighting and the video was not playing.

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In addition to that, on the Penstock Ladder track there is one panel that says "Watch This Space", and has been the same for at least the past five years.

And the panel that does have great information/photos is extremely dirty. It all presents a very poor image, and experience, to visitors and needs to be rectified quickly.

It looks as though the rat race has taken on a new meaning around the country.

WE are going to irrigate the Midlands from Great Lake below Poatina, irrigate the West and East Tamar and production of Hydrogen all taking water from Trevallyn Dam. Extra electricity for Hydrogen production will require increased generation from Trevallyn Power Station.

I can remember water shortages and algae problems in Trevallyn Dam and we all know we need water from the Esk rivers to flush sewage down the Tamar, as we do not tertiary treat our sewage.

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Less water flowing through Trevallyn Dam means a greater accumulation of shit in the Tamar. We know raking the river was a complete waste of taxpayers' money.

Is there a timeline, say 10, 20, 30 or 40 years, for tertiary treatment for sewage from Legana, Riverside, Meander Valley and Launceston?

MANY of your correspondents express dismay at the opening of Tasmania's borders, allowing the entry of COVID-19.

This is admittedly not a happy situation for us, but we have to ask what long-term advantage is there by delaying? The enemy will be at the gates for the foreseeable future and we will be in no better position to deal with it in three or six months than we are now.

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Waiting will not see the virus go away and will not buy us any advantage, in fact, the winter months would be more hazardous.

As we have been advised, we have entered a different phase where the virus becomes endemic rather than pandemic - meaning it becomes a persisting hazard to which the population, in general, become resistant.

Only when this happens will its dangerous nature be muted and we can relax somewhat.

The state government spokesperson ducked the issue of appointing an independent inquiry into Alwyn Johnson's plight with the gobbledygook that previous premiers "have also carefully considered the issues raised and responded accordingly" (The Examiner, January 11).

The spokesperson's claim that "given the extensive history of the case, the issues raised have already been comprehensively addressed" is bureaucratese for "after 30 years of failing to take proper action, we will continue to fail to take proper action".

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Former Prime Minister John Howard said that Johnson helped save the Tasmania Bank, the jobs of 700 of his colleagues and millions of dollars which Tasmanian taxpayers might otherwise have lost. That's so.

The fact that Johnson was sacked rather than compensated for blowing the whistle on the bank's impending failure is a lingering injustice which the current state government can and should put right.

A RAT test tells you within 15 minutes if you have the virus with a high rate of accuracy. So why can't the staff and visitors at all homes use them? Why is common sense not being used?

This outbreak came into Tasmania on the vaccinated entries, not the unvaccinated as they were still required to quarantine.

Whereas those double jabbed came in showed a clear test, let go while waiting for the arrival test to be checked.

Meanwhile, they had already picked up the virus on the way in and spread it like wildfire in this state with thousands of cases in the first two weeks.