Heading up or down, it’s a snap

IN reply to reader Trevor Graham (Letters, August 25), to alleviate concerns of who will fund dismantling of the cable car in the unlikely event it should fail, the MWCC website states: “If this venture fails to provide an adequate return on investment for our shareholders, several options can be actioned. As a last resort, the system will be decommissioned and dismantled with costs paid for by our Capital Reserve Trust Fund (CRTF).”

Let’s not let 1976 get in the way of a positive story. A simple Google search on Thredbo shows chairlifts and gondola cableways are alive and well, clearly demonstrated on June 22 with the official launch of Australia’s only alpine gondola. Thredbo’s new Merritts Gondola provides a sixminute travel time from Thredbo Village to the Cruiser area and Merritts Mountain House. Heading up the mountain in the comfortable eight-person European cabins has already proven to be a snap.

Moreover, all of Thredbo’s major resort operations are powered by clean, renewable energy via Red Energy and Snowy Hydro. So my original letter was not out of a songbook, it’s factual.

Adam Poultney Tranmere

Can’t afford to live

HAVE you ever wondered why people on Centrelink payments have such poor health? They simply cannot pay for specialist treatment. A visit to the ophthalmologist is $180 each time (out of pocket). If you are unable to pay they will set you up with a payment plan and if you don’t pay they have no regret in putting the person in the hands of the debt collector.

How many other specialist services do this? Does the cardiologist, lung specialist, the orthopaedic surgeon? What if you need all these services in a year and the bills just keep coming. What do you do?

You can’t pay so you don’t go to the doctor, you live in pain and suffer and ultimately die before your time. This is a sad indictment of Medicare in Australia today. No wonder those in poverty die younger than their richer middle class peers. They simply can’t afford to live. Tammy Milne Devonport

Give us choice at the end

MEMBERS of the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly, we implore you to support the End-of-Life Choices (Voluntary Assisted Dying) legislation presented by Mersey MLC Mike Gaffney.

As retirees in good health, hopefully the need for us to exercise such an option is well into the future. But the right to choose the manner and timing of death, if the alternative is pain, suffering and loss of independence, is a personal freedom about which we and our family are passionate. Both of us have experienced the death of elderly parents who were provided with excellent palliative care, and we are sure this is the option most would continue to take. But our parents had no choice at the end.

Regardless of the quality of the care offered in the face of a life-ending illness, we firmly believe government has no right to deny individual choice, supported by appropriate medical guidance, on the pathway to death. We have read widely on the topic, we attended a public forum and we have scrutinised the draft legislation.

We urge MPs to reject the argument that the Voluntary Assisted Dying bill offends religious, moral or ethical principles. Those who hold dear to these views are free to ignore this option to “manage” their death. It is certainly not compulsory. But please allow us both the right, in consultation with our families and supported by appropriate medical advice, to choose the manner and timing of our death. Adrian and Helen Wild Shearwater

Life is too precious

I CAN’T support the VAD Bill because life is too valuable to be taken away too early. What concerns me is that the legal carers or those with power of attorney will circumvent the safeguards and have a person put to death because they have a vested interest in obtaining an advantage by that death. It is abhorrent to expect a doctor to act as judge and jury and go against their oath to do no harm. Yes, people suffer in some circumstances but palliative care has come on in leaps and bounds so surely keeping a loved one alive is precious. If this Bill passes we will see future amendments passed to make it easier to take a person’s life to free up a bed in hospital, for instance, or assist in the death of a person for financial or other gain.

Do not allow this Bill to pass, because it goes against natural law. Life is a Godgiven gift not to be sacrificed. Scott White Sorell

Road upgrade ridge

THE recently completed upgrading works to the Cambridge/Richmond road has degraded one of Tasmania’s most scenic short drives but has provided some safety benefits in the process.

The road is now wider (except at the bridges), trees have been removed and access to side roads has been improved but there is now several kilometres of pronounced ridge where the new shoulder joins the existing road surface.

This ridge is within the white lines and is particularly noticeable with smaller wheeled cars and most likely very dangerous for motorcycles and bicycles when keeping well left. Motorists should keep a firm grip on their steering wheel until rectification work is carried out. Randall Corney Acton Park