Letters to the Editor | Tamar, Launceston CBD not the only issue at council election | The examiner
RURAL AREAS REPRESENTED
As rural landowners in the City of Launceston, we read the profiles of our 33 candidate representatives with interest.
One candidate cites Windermere, but no one else addresses issues beyond the Launceston CBD, suburbs and the Tamar River.
So we wonder how many candidates recognize that the electorate includes Lilydale, Nunamara, Patersonia, Myrtle Bank and Targa to Swan Bay.
About 50 percent of the area of the settlement is for primary production purposes.
We have no objection to addressing the legitimate concerns about the Launceston CBD and the Tamar River.
But where are the concerns about the health of the St Patricks River, which plays a major role in Launceston’s water supply? Or the prosperity of primary industries, etc.?
Rural residents tend to think that we get little recognition from the municipality or no refunds for fees paid.
It also seems that the people who know the most about our beautiful and historic area are those who take their trash to the side of the road or into the bush to avoid tipping; and possibly woodcutters cutting firewood without a permit in our forests and on private land.
Perhaps it is time for our council to set up a committee that would be more in touch with the rural sector of the electorate.
Also, those in the state who are currently pushing for council amalgamations would like to come and get feedback from residents of our district on the amalgamation of Launceston, St Leonards and Lilydale councils in 1985.
Glynis and Ian Dalton, Nunamara
TOO EXPENSIVE STADIUM PRICE
I for one will not support a Tasmanian team if a new venue in Hobart is needed to get the team.
I think many Tasmanians feel the same way.
Stephen Morgan, Summerhill
PEOPLE OF FAITH HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR
Pat Gartland is wrong when he says Andrew Thorburn and the Essendon Football Club parted ways because Thorburn is a person of faith (The examinerOctober 13).
Millions of religious Australians go to work every day without fear of being fired for their faith.
This is because most states have protections against such discrimination, including Tasmania, which has the strongest protections for people of faith in the nation.
The problem in Thorburn’s case was his refusal to agree with the core values of the club he ran, particularly the inclusion of LGBTIQA people and women’s suffrage.
The bigger issue here is the hypocrisy of faith leaders who condemn Essendon’s position but then demand the right to discriminate against LGBTIQA+ people in faith-based schools and services.
They can’t have their cake and eat it too.
More than 300 occupations, both white-collar and blue-collar, have recently been reported in the media.
Overseas workers are being recruited to come to Australia to fill positions.
Yet the federal government has the largest employment agency in the country: Centrelink.
Like pensioners, people on other forms of welfare should be allowed to work a certain number of hours per week before Centrelink payments are affected.
This can encourage the beneficiaries to look for work. This can lead to full-time work and they can fall off welfare.
If they are not actively looking for work, the government should come down hard and withhold payments. It is said that there are hundreds of thousands of jobs waiting for those who want to work, unfortunately many people on Centrelink salaries think that they are already getting paid for doing nothing.
This needs to change, but it would take a brave government to take this step towards reducing the number of welfare benefits.
