Political tribalism

SUE Hickey has exposed our parliament once again. Her willingness to think and act based on conscience and knowledge exposes the other members of her party and all parliamentary members who sign on to rigid tribal contracts with their respective parties. We often see in the Tasmanian parliament the indefensible paraded as sound policy, the stupid promulgated as debate and good people reduced to party pawns in order to maintain the tribal culture. The media seems keen to support the culture looking for chinks in the tribal armour to report a crisis when a member perceives an issue differently to their election tribe. Every vote should be a conscience and knowledge vote for every

Open for business

COME one, come all, we are open for business. Public and Crown Land, public buildings, World Heritage Areas, national parks, anything your heart desires and your bank balance can afford. I am pretty sure with all the extra taxes the government has received with stamp duty etc from the booming property market they could manage to find some extra money to fund the removal of Mac Point’s sewerage system, so wealthy people can purchase apartments there. It’s a complete joke.

Start work on housing

ACCESS to housing is a human right. There are more than 3400 Tasmanians on the waiting list for housing and as the list grows more people are forced into the already stressed private rental market with payments more than most can afford. More than 1600 Tasmanians are homeless every night. An Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute report indicates Tasmania needs to increase housing from 12,100 to 26,300 over the next 20 years. In greater Hobart 6600 properties are required. The report recommends finding a more sustainable way to improve housing and to learn from international experience. Work needs to start now. It is important to include integrated planning and public-private-civic partnerships.