Constitution confusion

Tasmania about our success in preparing our young people for university. Until the ACER Report last year, I did not know the percentage of Tasmanians receiving a tertiary entrance score is barely above the Northern Territory, and would need to improve by more than 50 per cent to get to the Australian average. In all developed nations, Year 12 is now for all students, with the path to on-the job training, or technical and further education, dividing after that. That is why in Australia the great majority of people gaining employment after an apprenticeship have completed Year 12, to say nothing of the value of Year 12 in opening young people’s minds to ideas they had not contemplated.

Tradies valued

BILL Godfrey reminds me the university degree is not the best help for fixing the wonky tap or the household electric wiring (Talking Point, December 29). More tradies needed and valued. I HAVE done some research into the eight individuals responsible for drawing up the Australian Constitution before Federation. All of these men went on to hold high political office in the first Australian Parliament, post-Federation. Fast forward to 2017: According to rulings by the High Court, none of these men would be eligible to take their seats in Parliament due to the fact they were born in Britain, or that one or both their parents were born in Britain. All quite confusing, really.