Taxpayer handout

THE proposed $20 million Crescent Bay resort may be moving toward commencement (10 years after it was approved) with a $1 million gift from the Tasmanian taxpayer. The Premier says the funds will be a contribution to infrastructure. This is a big fat subsidy for a project that has struggled, and may continue to struggle, to get private investment.

Few locals and other Tasmanians will be able to afford to stay there but they are helping to fund it. Does such a luxury resort, which has stalled due to lack of funding for 10 years, deserve taxpayer subsidies? I don’t recall being asked about it? The Liberals are big on subsidies, offering half the funding for the Cradle Moun-

Ripple effects

CONGRATULATIONS to the Tasmanian Labor Party for vowing to remove pokies from pubs and clubs. To see a figure of $20 million lost to gambling in the Glenorchy area each year is frightening, especially when most of this money could benefit small business. Nearly everyone I speak to knows of a person with a gambling problem, whose effects ripple out into their family and their work. The social damage of pokies is not worth any illusory benefits. The Farrell family, worth approximately $450 million, doesn’t need a topup from the pockets of disadvantaged Tasmanians.

Credit for sharing costs

LORD Mayor Hickey accuses Alderman Anna Reynolds of damaging the reputations of the council by revealing that the Hobart City Council spent over $193,000 on two overseas “study tours” ( Mercury, December 19), then as chair of the council meeting, prevents Alderman Reynolds from responding to the charge. Shouldn’t

Refreshing reading

IT was refreshing to read three excellent articles on poker machines by Wayne Crawford, Charles Wooley and Simon Bevilacqua ( Mercury, December 23). I applaud Rebecca White for this brave policy. Greg Farrell has already threatened Labor with withdrawing donations and a strong campaign against Labor. The cashed-up Tasmanian Hospitality Association and Federal Hotels are already screaming about prospective job losses. According to Anglicare polls, more than 80 per cent of Tasmanians are against pokies. Time will tell if Labor’s punt will be on the money.

Uber disruption

THE decision by the European Court of Justice regarding Uber ride-hailing services may set a precedent for many countries, apart from the 28 countries of the European Union. Quintessentially, the ruling states that Uber should be regulated as a transport company, instead of a technology service. Uber, the San Franciscobased company, has used the descriptor of “disruptor”, which has been duly echoed by many political parties, but is really a means of skirting around regulation and to drive down labour costs — sound familiar?