Article
Our Readers Respond
A collection of comments from our readers responding to our published articles in Tasmanian Times this past month. Thank you for your contributions.
Abetz Hides $500M Budget Blowout in Late Friday Release
Theo Stolp (2 November 2025)
“They Will end up privatising TTL and fares will skyrocket.”
Rural Tasmania Demands Urgent Action on Digital Divide
Michael Penfold (2 November 2025)
“I read your article about digital divide in Tasmania. When Telstra closed 3G and went to 4G networking we were already on 4G and the service deteriorated further. We live in a reasonably new affluent area called Port Sorell-Shearwater. This is a 15min drive east of Devonport. I wrote a response to Labor Anne Urquhart’s concerns about service providers at that time of transition. Nothing eventuated as expected. We found out that Telstra point their only mobile tower in Latrobe in a different direction and they categorically stated they would never add or upgrade their reception until the State or Federal Govt paid for it. Like the AFL, they are holding the Govt’s to ransom. As pensioners, we are unable to afford the monthly Telstra bill for a non existent ‘full cover’ of $230 plus so our only option offered was to downgrade our service to a very limited data download. So, now with many more residents and businesses moving into the area connectivity is even less. Everyone including the medical Centre complains about this. And, the number of times we have been even in Devonport city doing business, those behind a counter or desk complain of outages or just slowness of connectivity wasting time and money. Some years ago, there was a Commission investigation into how much data the NBN was releasing to the Telco’s to fight over to provide to the public. I wonder if the same is happening again. I think the NBN and Telco’s need another shakeup from top to bottom especially in light of recent events. The faults lie with them not the users. Hacking, service downgrading, non investment in infrastructure upgrades, unfair billing, questionable preferential treatment for ‘mates’, should add up to another Royal Commission, and heads of Govt, NBN, Telco’s need to be sent a message with heads to roll if the evidence shows as we expect that it will, that we are all being ripped off by flagrant finger of blame pointing by all concerned. Thank you. It has taken forever to express this feedback due to our dropouts.”
Systems Abuse Follows Women Behind Prison Walls
Leah (30 October 2025)
“This is so true that it brings me to tears, however many youngsters have survived by not reacting to systemic abuse. Getting angry at the abuse you are too young to understand, and react to, ensures that the result is yet another of our youth are punished for reacting to the abuse from the adults in power. These are our children. I’m am so sorry for her family and friends. Just being a human who responds to abuse should not lead to our children being incarcerated.”
Government Buries TT-Line Bailout Under Avalanche of Spin
Roderick (29 October 2025)
“Well! Our environmentally ignorant Labor Opposition continues to call the others a Liberal-Green government! Josh Willie, the Greens are not aligned to the Government, and it’s certain that they will not be aligned to your weak Opposition! Every time I see your buffoon smile I see there is no intellectual substance behind your mask. It’s a pity that Tasmanian Labor has now produced two leaders who are relics of the past, and who clearly have no understanding that many Tasmanians no longer want your 1960s policies. Appeal to the uneducated masses? You can’t even do that! Your stadium party highlights just how out of touch you and your party are. You continue to blame the Greens without realising that this party has more substance than the one of which you will only be the temporary leader. Lennon, Winter and Willie will go down in history as the leaders who destroyed any credibility that the Labor party may have had.”
Chief Editor TT (29 October 2025)
“That’s not true at all. The agreement Tasmania signed has a whole section on how the terms of the agreement can be varied, and the process for doing so.”
AFL Team, Yes. Billion-Dollar Stadium, No.
Barry Dee (29 October 2025)
“The reality is that the Macquarie Point Development Corporation will do the borrowing, but it is just another government ‘enterprise’ that will call on the government (ie, the taxpayers) to regularly borrow more when it doesn’t have it. This is much like TT line does. Tasmanians are dying while their names are on hospital waiting lists due to underfunding and understaffing. Housing lists and homelessness have passed crisis points and have become social emergencies! The priorities of the Libs and Labs are skewed by populist agendas driven by marketing teams. The rest of our new parliament seems to be pushing for real change – so there may be hope yet. But ‘Tiredofyourfearfulness’ is probably another spin doctor on the payroll trying to allay the growing fears that the state is being destroyed by abandoned responsibilities. It is my hope that the Legislative Council will end this madness, and set the boat on a steadier course.”
Chris (26 October 2025)
“AFL Team? – Yes! Billion-dollar stadium? Also Yes! That’s because the AFL has several times already made it abundantly clear that it’s not interested in giving Tasmania a team without the stadium! I’m genuinely not sure what’s so hard about that for people to understand! A vote against the stadium is a vote against the team. It’s been that way pretty much since the start, and that narrative, at least from the AFL’s point of view, has never altered. There is no alternative, and so I’m really not sure how much more this can be made clear. Either you build the stadium and you get the team, or you don’t.”
Polly (26 October 2025)
“After 22 years away from the state of Tasmania, and your ’embarrassment’ at being Tasmanian, I am positive you have absolutely no idea, and definitely no right to be opinionated on what we do or don’t need. Tasmanians have reared an entire generation in your absence! We have most definitely changed! We refuse to listen to those whose intention is to keep us, and our future generations oblivious to appease the Retirement generation of Australia who oppose any forward thinking structure which alleviates the bogan and welfare state we currently have. True home-grown Tasmanians want and need this stadium, and all the lifestyle improvements it will bring.”
Brett (26 October 2025)
“I love how the price keeps going up for dramatisation purposes! Also they keep forgetting the feds are chipping in, and the AFL too. This slogan – Yes team, No stadium – is also a good laugh because if the stadium is No then a team is No too, and you can’t have it both ways. Remember this: it was Tasmania’s own independent government taskforce that said the club needs a new stadium to be viable, so cut out the nonsense and the scare campaigns.”
Bella (26 October 2025)
“Rubbish! Simon is very sensible, and I agree with him.”
Joel Smith, Austadiums.com (26 October 2025)
“How will an AFL team generate income by playing at a sub-par venue such as Bellerive Oval? Its corporate facilities are next to none, and its capacity is too small – not to mention its poor location. That’s why no new stadium means no AFL team. Tasmanians have a decision to make.”
Fred (26 October 2025)
“Simon, you’re not the only one with roots to Tassie. I suggest you stay in Japan as we don’t need your rubbish reasons here. Tassie needs the stadium! I’ve heard it all before, just like Blue Poles – the painting now worth $600 million. Tassie – get on with it! Build the stadium and they will come!”
Martin (26 October 2025)
“Ivan – a real life fortune teller! Perhaps you could provide next week’s Tatts numbers while you are gazing into your crystal ball and telling the future! Amazing!”
Damian (26 October 2025)
“Oh, the Naysayers! What a load of codswallop! Yes, Tasmania – you stay rooted in the 1950s and don’t dare try to progress! Yes, I’m a Mainlander and I love Tassie, but the standard mentality of the people in Tasmania is bogged down in yesteryear. Have a go and be a bit daring, and stop sucking on the teat of the rest of Australia as you have done for decades and decades.”
Tiredofyourfearfulness (27 October 2025)
“Many of us have been inviting friends and family to Tasmania since before David Walsh was born. If this person is hung up about Tasmania, it’s completely on them – not the stadium.”
Tasmanian (26 October 2025)
“Natural resources-rich Western Australia (population over 3 million) built its 60,000 seat Perth stadium for $1.6 billion whilst Tasmania (population half a million) is building a 23,000 seat stadium for a cost of over $1.5 billion for only seven AFL games a year, and still to be confirmed, cricket due to the roof. And good on WA which could afford the stadium and have 2 AFL teams to generate the revenue with at least 22 AFL games a year. Also WA had its priorities right by constructing the 700 bed Fiona Stanley public Hospital costing 2 billion dollars some years before the stadium.”
Timothy Dayman (26 October 2025)
“What a miserable, wretchedly negative article window-dressed as reasoned, altruistic concern! Move on!”
Ivan (26 October 2025)
“AFL team – yes! Stadium with its $1 Bn initial price tag which is expected to double in one year, and triple in two because of water leaks in carpark and foundations? NO! Besides, there is no need to place it in the middle of the city.”
Steve McDermott (26 October 2025)
“Is Simon interested in becoming our next premier? Finally, some common sense argument!”
Stadium’s Cost Threatens Trust, Vision and Social Fabric
Sam (29 October 2025)
“I understand the sentiment, but isn’t this kind of like when people complain about traffic even though they chose to live next to a school? Some situations come with certain trade-offs, and it seems unfair to act surprised or frustrated by the very thing that was predictable from the beginning.”
Social Licence – Community Harm Demands Real Justice
Ben Marshall (27 October 2025)
“A question: What is the nature of the machinery operating at night?”
Roderick (27 October 2025)
“Disrupted sleep is a major factor in the deterioration of health in humans, with diesel fumes equally so. My late father was very healthy at the age of 92, but he suddenly became very ill and was diagnosed with leukaemia. Diesel and petrol contain benzene, a known carcinogenic. I wondered about all those years he drove his bulldozers, wheel tractors and log skidder etc, without air conditioned and enclosed cabins, and with the exhaust pipe in front of him blowing the dirty diesel fumes straight at him. He was an energetic man who didn’t smoke or drink alcohol, and of course I wondered if those fumes were the reason for his relatively early demise. His two sisters were amazingly healthy until 94 and 98 years of age.”
Chris (27 October 2025)
“Have faith in the medical system? It is now harder to access than ever! One recent patient at the RHH required an urgent X-ray, then it seemed a CT scan was necessary too, but both procedures were not performed as the ‘medical budget’ would not allow the expense. Bring on the stadium!”
Anni (29 October 2025)
“This is the best reasoned argument yet from Simon! Simon offers more meaningful facts than what we’ve been reading so far!”
Spinal Surgery Forces Senator Lambie Out of Parliament
Chris (27 October 2025)
“Have faith in the medical system? It is now harder to access than ever! One recent patient at the RHH required an urgent X-ray, then it seemed a CT scan was necessary too, but both procedures were not performed as the ‘medical budget’ would not allow the expense. Bring on the stadium!”
Party Leaders Must Allow Free Vote on Polarising Stadium
Roderick (26 October 2025)
“And the compliantly ignorant fool politicians who voted for the stadium might not be elected again!”
Dion Clarke (21 October 2025)
“Mike, if you vote against the stadium you might be entering your last few years as an elected member of Mersey.”
Tasmanians Are Speaking — Why Won’t Our Leaders Listen?
Richard Dax (24 October 2025)
“Great job as ever, Janice! I for one, greatly appreciate what you have done, and what you continue to put in to this vital cause. It’s a great effort. You’d think Rockliff, or at least some of his sycophants, would pay close attention for they ignore us at their peril. Regards R.”
Australia’s Democracy Stuck in Colonial-Era System
Bron Scott (23 October 2025)
“Goodness knows that something needs to change! Urgently. Our so-called ‘representative’ Government does not represent our wishes or our best interests. And the process of writing to them, phoning them, and attending protests is exhausting.”
Dismantling Elite Cartels for Tasmanian Prosperity
Andrew Stretton (23 October 2025)
“As this has been an excellent series of articles, my sincere thanks go to the Centre for the Study of Corruption, University of Sussex, for giving its permission for their publication, and to Tasmanian Times for republishing them. Having witnessed and fought against widespread corruption on the mainland in Business, Police, Local, State and Federal Politics over a 30-year period, nothing in these articles surprises me, and as I have a nose for it it’s probably quite fitting that I have ended up living in Tasmania. In my short time here one thing has become patently obvious, which is why this question, posed at the end of the above article, is so critical: ‘The question is: Do Tasmanians want to restore public integrity and trust, reduce their ‘corruption tax’, reinvest wasted billions into public services and facilities, and return to surplus – or not?’ As I see it, and have experienced it, corruption in Tasmania is not just the domain of Elite Cartels. It is endemic, and therefore observable in all strata of society if one cares to look deeply enough. To the author’s credit, this was recognised in one of the earlier articles, in particular where the corruption originally sprang from and how it has become, over time, a ‘cultural determinant’. There is, dare I say, an almost blasé acceptance that ‘this is how things are done in Tassie’. There seems to be an unwritten agreement between those on the lower rungs of society, and those on the top rungs, that as long as both ends can get away with whatever they can get away with, they can turn a blind eye to each other. Reversing this culturally determined situation will be a monumental exercise. It’s something I don’t see happening anytime soon.”
Leah (22 October 2025)
“This article is brilliant! Thankyou for republishing it. Understanding how incompetent people get into government and then gaslight others is like living in an alternate universe. It’s not how process and accountability to the community should be done. Gosh, I really have to contemplate whether I will have to return to live on the mainland after 10 years here because of complex health issues. I can’t be sure that the care I might need will be here. I can’t believe the amazing number of health professionals I have here, so much so that I could not ask for better, but they will leave because they can’t do their job with the government slashing so much. I can’t imagine the extent of the dilemma foisted on our youth with the slashing of TAFE. The government pays for private training organisations. You can’t learn about the Food Act in a one day course.”
Black Swans Face Cull Despite Public Outrage
Clive Stott (23 October 2025)
“Martin Luther King Jr said this … ‘Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.'”
Ted Mead (20 October 2025)
“This is yet another appalling government policy! To permit the ongoing slaughter of our native wildlife is to be consistent with the dark-age ethos that runs this state! Where is the science to justify such a policy? Of course there is none – just a claim by landowners that their rural industry profits are marginalised by the very presence of wildlife. Most of Tasmania’s Laborials still espouse what’s written in Genesis 1:26 – ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ And so we have a perpetual colonial attitude which lingers on in overt ignorance, and which is indicative of the way farmers and politicians respect nature and wildlife. Without question, we have a long way to go in Tasmania! As Mahatma Ghandi said – ‘The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated'”
Voucher Program to Help Seniors Stay Active
Roderick (17 October 2025)
“I wonder if Eric will be applying for a voucher. Is square dancing on the list of approved activities?”
Social Housing Crisis Deepens as Waitlist Hits 5,277
Barry Dee (17 October 2025)
“There are many factors at play with our National Housing Problem, and Tassie feels it more than many due to our low socio-economic population profile. Prime Minister Howard started the problem with negative gearing and tax perks for those higher income earners who invest in property. Over 90% of our Federal parliament politicians, including Labor’s, and many state pollies have investment properties, and they are in no hurry to ditch their turn at the Hogs’ Trough! State and Federal politicians regularly say they are attempting to fix things – but in truth they have a vested interest in maintaining a tight rental market! In more recent years Airbnb markets sucked the excess out of the rental market, and things got tighter. A fiercely competitive market with a shortage of supply means landlords can squeeze tenants for higher rents! It is a disgrace that greed is a higher priority for pollies than Human Rights!”
Open House Features Low-Cost Owner-Built Home
Leah (16 October 2025)
“We need more Jiris in this state! We don’t want McMansions. We want humble, sustainable homes that have natural sunlight and air flows, and has views and is affordable for a single wage family with enough time for community involvements.”
TasTAFE Cuts Collide With Million-Dollar Arts Funding
Leah (16 October 2025)
“I guess the Minister making these cuts, given his only experience is that of a plumber, has no idea what and how are the benefits for arts and design. If we want world class events and tourism, then these industries and career paths are vital. Tasmanian artists and creatives know how special Tasmania is. This includes every aspect of hospitality. It is a creative art and culture. I guess that in having your head down a sewer for a career, we can’t expect them to understand how important arts, design and culture are. We even need construction skills for events, music, film and theatre.”
Democracy Must Evolve to Reverse Australia’s Rising Inequality
Andrew Stretton (15 October 2025)
“The Human Species is no different to any other, in that life is ‘determined’ by energy. Democracy is a Human construct, a ‘response’ to, and the ‘result’ of, the surplus energy that Fossil Fuels have provided. Democracy is therefore, for however long, nothing more and nothing less than a ‘blip’ that will mirror the rise and fall of the surplus energy that has enabled it. Should the currently proposed energy ‘solutions’ – be they additions to or replacements of the surplus energy that has previously existed, either be found wanting or fail to materialise, then Democracy will die and inequality will increase accordingly. Just don’t tell anybody that hope or lament are apparently the only two options on the table. Democracy, in this light, is an evolutionary dead end!”
Hydro Drought Threatens Marinus Exports – Part Six
Ben Marshall (14 October 2025)
“More good work from Ruth Forrest, but with all of it to be utterly ignored by Liberal-Labor and their corporate mates. I’m surprised and disappointed however, to see a critical flaw in the analysis – namely climate. Forrest describes changes as ‘potential’ and that we ‘may’ be seeing a fundamental change in our climate. But the data is largely in on general predictions, albeit various tipping points that could send the system into fast chaos rather than the fast but gradual changes we’re already seeing. Predictions on changes have already been borne out ahead of time, and they indicate that the predictions, often derided by deniers as ‘extreme’, were in fact incredibly conservative. For any analysis on planning in the energy sector, climate science needs to be fundamental, and its absence is one of the biggest and most obvious flaws in the PR masquerading as policy that we’re currently stuck with. Ruth Forrest, and her colleagues, need to understand that climate science data and solid predictive analysis about what our state and energy systems will face are already available. In such planning, data and context are everything, so minimising it in the way Forrest has done with this piece is problematic, to say the least.”
Andrew Stretton (14 October 2025)
“Let them build it! In 10 years, when the cake and circus distractions (like those of the Australian Fools League) have disappeared forever (largely through the collapse of household discretionary spending) the roofed stadium will become an icon as the Southern Hemisphere’s largest Community Garden Greenhouse, and as a constant reminder that even the misguided plans of idiots can be turned into opportunities.”
Tasmanian Times (TT) is a community-based news and current affairs service covering the island state of Tasmania. It exists to provide a diverse presentation of Tasmanian issues. TT creates and supports independent media content utilising the best of modern technologies and tried-and-true practices of public-interest journalism.
Support us in expanding our coverage and developing new content by and for Tasmanians.
New initiatives on the way include … what our contributors and readers suggest! Please get in touch with your suggestions.