Family violence statistics in Tasmania 'horrifying'

Over 32% of Tasmanian women have experienced violence by a cohabiting partner since they were 15, and around 17% of women have experienced abuse before the age of 15. The statistics are horrifying.

The Salvos are seeing insufficient crisis and long-term accommodation options, and major service gaps for women and children escaping violence in Tasmania.

These issues create significant bottlenecks in frontline services, which ultimately can trap women and children in violent situations.

Tasmanians deserve an increase in the stock of crisis and long-term accommodation for victim-survivors.

This must be coupled with addressing service gaps and ensuring that children exposed to violence can access specialist support.

We cannot be in a situation where Tasmanian women and children fleeing violence are denied a service because of insufficient service investment.

Violence against women and children must end.

I ASSUME all those people who spent millions on Taylor Swift and now the Aussie Grand Prix will be on radio, TV and in the papers next week complaining about power prices, supermarkets, etc., but don't care about the real Aussies doing it tough.

So you have visited some fabulous wild areas in Tasmania! Good for you!

Please remember it is not enough to just go out and visit the amazing wilderness.

It is not enough to experience an incredible place and wonder at how lucky you are to visit it and enjoy it.

To see it and acknowledge its beauty and existence is more than just a privileged holiday - it is an urgent invitation to ensure its protection.

An extraordinary untouched wilderness is only there because somebody fought to ensure its protection.

When you go and enjoy a beautiful environment, you must act to protect these places because many are destined to be destroyed.

They need protecting now and we need bodies to fight to protect them.

We need an entire army of protectors.

So please do not just visit and observe, as this serves nobody but yourself. You are participating in the demise of these wonderful places if you do nothing but enjoy yourself and take photos.

You are complicit in the destruction of these places if you return home to your normal life and plan your next trip without direct action for earth.

So please when you go home and dine out on your stories of intrepid expeditions, please spare some time, energy and money to support the people who are fighting to protect the wild places that are left.

WHAT does Ken Done's art and $6.4 billion have in common?

They will both just be memories from the Great Barrier Reef if we don't halt climate change and improve the water quality.

Reefs all over the world are facing huge threats, from higher sea temperatures, to plastic pollution, to overfishing, and models predict that up to 70% of the world's coral reefs will be gone in the next 30 years.

Our Great Barrier Reef is home to some of the world's most beautiful animals, and I am not just talking about the charismatic dolphins and whales.

Corals are animals, despite their plant-like appearance! I think if more people knew that those vivid structures are actually animals, they would feel more empathy for their slow deaths during bleaching events.

When visiting our tropical paradises, make sure to take nothing, and leave only footprints. Think about ways to reduce your carbon miles when travelling or ordering food.

And lobby for protections for our greatest natural asset. Otherwise, we can wave goodbye to $6.4 billion of tourism money, the charismatic wildlife, and the teeny tiny corals themselves before the middle of this century.