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Election Comment ... and candidates
Editor
09.03.10 12:02 am
Responsibility for election comment is taken by the Editor, Lindsay Tuffin, 9 Phoenix St, Howrah, Hobart 7018. Meanwhile: Check out all the election candidates, HERE: http://www.electoral.tas.gov.au/
St Helens Water – Let’s Wait for the Science
Dr Roscoe Taylor Director of Public Health. A response to A response to: Call for Roscoe Taylor to resign
12.03.10 7:08 pm
It seems bizarre to me that I am being criticised for endeavouring to provide reliable information to the St Helens community, in the aftermath of a situation where a media program has aroused human health concerns well in advance of any scientific confirmation.
Politics | Local | State | Forestry | Gunns | Economy | Environment | HealthOur Common Ground
12.03.10 3:58 pm
“It’s hard to look at Tasmania’s timber industry and think things are working,” said Dr Andrew Lohrey, a former Labor Forest Minister who also authorised the advert. “Jobs are vanishing, we’re losing native forests, companies can’t get financing and we are losing markets.”
Read more, Comment HERE
And,
OCG Community Forum, HERE
Cundall, Booth, Walsh, Bayley Dockray at water forum: HERE
Sue Neales, Mercury
12.03.10 3:03 pm
• Giving the state’s worst criminals the right to vote No surprise there ... on TT: HERE;
And Greens response…
Politics | StateA day in the life of Andrew Wilkie, aspiring MP
Kate Burton, writing HERE
12.03.10 2:45 pm
Steve is quick to state that he is no victim. He is reflective about his behaviour and knows it is ultimately he who must take responsibility for his life. However he knows enough about pokies and the way they work to know that, for addicts at least, the only solution is to rid society of them. Like an alcoholic who will always sniff out that hidden drink, ‘band aid’ solutions like self-exclusion policies, reduced operating hours and lower bet limits will not help a pokies addict.
Politics | State | Health | SocietyCall for Roscoe Taylor to resign
Dr Andrew Lohrey, Former Speaker of the House of Assembly and Cabinet Minister. Dr David Obendorf, veterinary pathologist
12.03.10 10:31 am
As Director of Public Health, Dr Taylor has a special responsibility to maintain trust and integrity in relation to his functions, as laid down by the Public Health Act (1997). Democratic societies as well as commercial exchanges rest on a cultural infrastructure of trust and integrity that has been built up over the centuries. Dr Taylor’s recent statements in relation to the E.niten water crisis have undermined that culture of integrity and public trust in the Tasmanian public health system. He should now resign as the Tasmanian Director of Public Health.
Politics | Local | State | Forestry | Economy | Environment | HealthMandy, Launceston
12.03.10 10:27 am
So far at least 22 posters have been removed with such stealth that even those sites that would require a ladder and screw driver have disappeared. So far at least 22 posters have been neatly removed leaving wood & screws intact from high profile sites all over Launceston. Last night another 5 posters were removed and today reported missing.
Politics | StateBartlett’s `tiger economy’ hit by jobless figures
Matthew Denholm, The Australian
12.03.10 7:09 am
Tasmania, praised this week by Kevin Rudd for its so-called “tiger economy”, survived the global economic crisis relatively well. But as is often the case, it appears to be taking longer to recover, with key traditional industries - such as pulp and paper, forestry and vegetable processing - culling jobs.
Politics | StateTassie parliamentary system unworkable, even for a ministry of silly walks
Bruce Montgomery, first published on Crikey
12.03.10 6:39 am
The conclusion: a stalemate, unless the Greens are included in the gene pool of any Cabinet. If Labor and the Liberals want to get rid of the Greens, form government in their own right and have a healthy backbench, they are going to have to change the electoral system to single-member constituencies.
Politics | StateClimate Action. Environment Tasmania
12.03.10 4:07 am
Over 150 Tasmanians watched as Lisa Singh MP, Vanessa Goodwin MP, Cassy O’Connor MP and election candidate Melanie Barnes went head to head on their party’s climate change credentials in a bid to win the votes of Tasmanians concerned about climate change. Readmore, Comment HERE
Politics | State | Economy | EnvironmentTarkine Update: This is what the tourists will see ...
Pete Godfrey
12.03.10 3:53 am
The question is why cut down perfectly good blackwood trees then leave them on the ground … Of course these logs are not first grade; they are small and bent but still there is plenty of wood for artisans and woodworkers to make use of … The remnant Blackwood forest there is beautiful but it is only a remnant now, a thin veneer to fool the tourists. Shame on the woodchip industry.
Download 'Tarkine show for TT.doc'
Politics | Local | National | State | Forestry | Gunns | Economy | EnvironmentPeter Ker, The Age
12.03.10 2:50 am
Plantations of the nitens are also growing in Victoria, with numerous towns around Gippsland, including Seaspray and Yarram, taking their drinking water from rivers that also sustain nitens plantations.
Politics | Local | National | State | Forestry | Gunns | Economy | Environment | HealthGerard
12.03.10 2:45 am
What is that Tasmania? At its heart is an idea - a simple and yet audacious idea that Tasmania has the potential to be as Truchanus once said, “a bright shining beacon” for the rest of the world. This idea stands on four pillars.
Politics | State | Personal | SocietyWhere is the good in humankind?
Dave Groves
12.03.10 12:40 am
So, the time has come to stop bailing the sinking ship, overloaded with plunderers, rednecks, the self interested, hangers on, trough guzzlers and their ilk.
Personal | SocietyBentley 45: The Bag Lady, Amy and the Pigeons
Don Bentley
12.03.10 12:20 am
A story of journalism, once! Number 45 in a series of short stories by Don Knowler on his journalistic life and observations told through imaginary newspaper The Chronicle. He explores not only journalism but what Knowler terms the sacred covenant hacks have with their readers to put truth above all else, even if it means leaving the comfort of the bar to do so … His musings appear regularly grouped under the Category Don Knowler
“There’s a rat with wings at one end of the spectrum, and a dove of peace and love at the other,’’ Rosie whispered one day in one of her more comprehensible moments, when she and Amy shared tea in the old building, the pigeons cooing in the roof.
Writers | Don Knowler | Environment | MediaDon Knowler
12.03.10 12:15 am
After the crash, a cross appeared at the roadside. It was soon washed with mud, oil and grease from the passing traffic, taking the sheen off its black surface. The cross stood lonely in the grass until someone stopped and placed a book at its base, a Famous Five adventure, the downwind from the traffic ruffling its pages. Another car halted, bringing Oliver Twist; then Silent Spring arrived, carefully placed behind the cross so it would not catch the spray. For Whom the Bell Tolls came with an empty bottle of rioja red, followed by The Shipping News with a knot of string. Then a single page with a poem, Aubade. A truck roared by and the page fluttered amid the oil and grease and tyre dust, lost on the wind.
Writers | Don Knowler | ArtsThe big power subsidies the free-marketeers won’t talk about
Bob Burton. Picture: A potline at Comalco, Bell Bay
11.03.10 4:30 am
The cost of subsidising Comalco, Nystar and Temco’s power bills is a drag on the other more labour-intensive sectors of the Tasmanian economy and a form of corporate welfare that is due for an overhaul. Why won’t the Liberals, Labor or the Institute of Public Affairs champion the cause of this micro-economic reform?
Writers | Bob Burton | Politics | State | EconomyTourism on the teat. When will it end?
John Lawrence
11.03.10 4:30 am
Why does this industry need assistance? It is a mature industry. When will it stand on its own two feet? What other industry demands the Government fund their marketing budget? Sure there are lots of tourist enterprises who spend $s on marketing. But there are lots who don’t and who expect Governments to do it for them. Hell, that’s what Governments are for. Even those who spend their own $s expect Governments to pitch in as well. Why? What is this culture?
Writers | John Lawrence | Politics | State | Economy | Environment | TravelChris Middleton - President, Australian Medical Association Tasmania
11.03.10 4:15 am
The extra money and resources pledged to improve service delivery are a step in the right direction but it is unclear what each of the parties has planned to deal with the pachyderm on the premises that is the chronic and habitual underfunding of the public hospital system. The AMA has previously called for sufficient resources to be made available to allow public hospitals to run at an average bed occupancy rate of 85%. Without this, overcrowded emergency departments, bed access blockages and long waiting times for surgery will continue to blight the effective provision of healthcare in Tasmania.
Politics | State | HealthJane MacDonald, Save Ralphs Bay
11.03.10 3:19 am
Save Ralphs Bay Inc. is marking its sixth anniversary by holding a Franklin Candidates Forum in the Lauderdale Hall from 8.00 – 9.00pm on Wednesday, March 17th. Confirmed attendees so far include Nick McKim, a high profile Labor candidate, Wendy Heatley and Ross Butler. Details, Comment HERE
Politics | State | Environment
