Tassie different
THE Mount Wellington Cableway Company must have their heads in the clouds to think the cable car would benefit Tasmanian school kids education. The logic of copying the program from South Africa’s cable car is supposedly to educate Tasmanian schoolchildren about the alpine environment. This poorly thought out PR stunt proves MWCC has little knowledge of kunanyi for if they did they would have discover that according to the Register of National Estate, “there is no other site in Australia with such a steep altitudinal gradient which encompasses a range of vegetation types”. This is to say that there is no better place to learn not only about the alpine environment but also subalpine, rainforest, wet sclerophyll, dry sclerophyll environments. Part of the beauty of driving up the mountain is discovering these environments change as you climb.
To stick kids on a cable car removes them from learning about the different en-
Education jewel
READER Di Manser (Letters, April 13) is concerned that, with secondary colleges scaled down, outdoor education may disappear from the curriculum. Colleges have offered students a wide range of subjects across the curriculum with highly experienced and inspirational teachers concentrated in one institution. However, if the colleges are scaled down, outdoor education will not be the only subject to disappear. Colleges create an environment that has a concentration of students and teachers in one institution, creating a dynamic environment. To lose that is to lose the jewel in our state education system.
Still got the blues
I HAVE had second thoughts about my earlier suggestion that the Libs change their colour to red to support their red — neck policies. Perhaps blue is still relevant seeing that proposals for more commercial developments in national parks and public land are being pushed. No doubt the cable car, Frenchmans Cap, fish farms, water etc will stimulate “blues” with con-
Build houses
ONCE upon a time we had a housing department and through that department apprentices were trained to build affordable housing either for rent or to buy. It is incumbent on any democratic government to provide affordable housing for people on lower incomes and/or pensions. Many of us grew up in these homes, which had a generous garden, and were close to schools, shops and services (these are the houses that are now being sold for over $400,000 and usually picked up by investors not first home buyers).
There are a lot of people who look forward to buying their first home, having a family, and living in the one place for an extended period of time and these people often don’t have huge salaries and/or a double income but want the life just as passionately as we all do. It’s a total failure of any government to overlook them.
Just imagine how many trainees jobs would be on offer if this project of building affordable houses was reinstated — and once the trainee is qualified they go on to be professional builders, bricklayers, etc.
The policy of building homes is long term, not short term, and giving quick cash handouts to landlords will not solve anything.