Federal folly

IT should come as no surprise that Federal Group workers have been offered a paltry and insulting wage increase. We still don’t know, thanks to the secrecy of the Hodgman Government, how much the Federal Group poured into the election campaign. Workers were urged to participate in the campaign, which they did, and this is the thanks they get. Corporate greed will be the ruination of our society.

Dangerous track

MANY pedestrians on the Hobart Rivulet track mutter about the seeming lack of courtesy shown by cyclists and, like reader Irene Fisher (Letters, May 11), wish the path was bicycle-free. It used to be such a great place to stroll, with or without canine companion(s). Now it’s a scary horror strip to be avoided, especially in peak hours. lion — going to redevelop a park at Botany Bay. This is on top of the $99.5 million spent on the John Monash Centre, a building in France that few Australians will ever visit and $500 million to renovate the War Museum in Canberra. Meanwhile, in the same Budget, $84 million in cuts to the ABC were announced. Seems pretty clear that the culture warriors of the Government’s Right-wing have their hands firmly on the Treasurer’s throat.

Bit wet out

JUST watching scenes from a rather drenched Hobart, including water wandering along the hallowed halls of UTAS! I guess, when it’s finally built, the same fate awaits the new campus at Inveresk. After all, it’s built on a swamp with the river gurgling alongside. Not a sensible site, methinks, but I guess those in power know best.

Wild ride to the top

IMAGINE the lineup for tickets to ride the cable car in Friday’s wild weather! There’d have been hundreds, er, no one there. tional Affordable Housing Agreement. This funding will improve access to affordable, safe and sustainable housing across the housing spectrum, including to prevent and address homelessness, and to support social and economic participation. The Government takes the issue of housing and homelessness very seriously and it is important to get all the facts out on the table when talking about such issues.

Aged care failure

FOR all the hype about aged care being a centrepiece of the 2018-19 Federal Budget, Mr Turnbull’s aged-care package is an insult to older Tasmanians. It does not address the home care crisis created under his watch. Mr Turnbull cheered himself silly over the so-called extra 14,000 home care packages (over four years) but we’re still trying to find out where you found the money. From what I can tell, it looks like you’ve pinched it from existing budgets, which means you’re taking money off aged care to give back to aged care.

Mr Turnbull’s promise of 14,000 new home care packages over four years (3500 per year) is a cruel hoax and doesn’t come even close to keeping up with demand. In the past six months of 2017 the home care package wait list grew by 20,000 and right now there are over 105,000 vulnerable older Australians waiting in limbo for home care, most living with dementia.

Mr Turnbull has broken every promise he has made to older Tasmanians. There is no new funding in the Budget for aged care and he needs to apologise.