Narrow focus

IT is quite appropriate for the Property Council to argue that councils should be excluded from major property development decisions. We the public should not however be under any confusion that the Property Council’s views are other than the promotion of policy that suits a narrow

Libraries lead the way

FROM this week, the Hodgman Liberal Government has introduced a new fee model at Libraries Tasmania that removes most of the existing fees and late return charges which should encourage more people to use libraries and simplify the process. Libraries around the world have evolved in the past decade, with Libraries Tasmania at the forefront of that evolution in Australia. In the last financial year there were 113,806 active library members, so while there are many Tasmanians who already use the services we want to encourage more people through our library doors. Studies show that for every dollar invested in libraries, there is a $3 return to the community. But investment in our library and archive services not only has an economic impact, it positively impacts the lives of Tasmanians, both culturally and socially. That is why we want to remove as many barriers as possible so our libraries

Population success

PITY the Federal Government and the PM’s view of population growth is about international migration. Domestic migration plays its part too with out-migration flows from the regions, South Australia and Tasmania. The Federal Government plays its part contributing to these domestic migration flows. In five years federal government has ripped 550 federal jobs from Tassie (mainly Hobart) ( Mercury, December 7). It is amazing Tasmania’s population is growing despite this loss of jobs but this is partly because of the successful State Population Growth Strategy. It is a pity the Federal Government does not have such a strategy. They might relocate the VIC/TAS Head Office of a major government department like Home Affairs from Melbourne to Hobart! This would slow the growth of Melbourne too, in the same way they state in the rhetoric about international migration. Perhaps a population strategy is needed like the Tasmanian one, canvasing all the factors rather than a thought bubble.