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Rubbish from on high

IT’S great that the well-heeled will not see the roadside rubbish from their helicopters. But for us ground-dwelling plebs, how long will it take for the government to clean roadside rubbish and to introduce a container deposit scheme? It makes a mockery of our “clean” green image. Mark Taylor Mount Seymour

Deeper cracks

WHILE the cracks in the Qantas Boeing 737s are a cause of great concern they are dwarfed by the deep fissures in the wings of Australia’s aged care system. Ed Sianski West Moonah

Brooker volunteers

SEVERAL years ago a charity organisation (I think it was Lions Club) had volunteers to clean up the Brooker Highway. Then some government safety mob stepped in and said it was “too dangerous” and you will have to have insurance coverage and buggered the whole situation up. Now litter builds up out of sight to motorists into a huge rubbish tip. Ray Wakefield Claremont

Set up to fail

I TOTALLY agree with the spot-on Mercury Editorial (“Playing hard with the AFL”, November 1) and the Editor has nailed it in stating “but we’re being set up to fail”. Very, very disappointing for a massively AFL footy crazy state but just so true! Chris Davey Lindisfarne

Human rights benchmark

I SUPPOSE Marise Payne and her government colleagues expect us to take pride in her attack on the human rights infringements of the Chinese. What China is doing is cruel and unacceptable but I find it hard to overlook, as our government does, their own human rights record. The fact that Chinese atrocities are worse than ours is hardly a landmark of moral argument. Jim Heys South nipaluna/Hobart

Prison in tourism front yard

HAVING driven along the highway, past the proposed Northern Regional Prison Site, I am strongly opposed to a prison being built in full view on any major road/highway anywhere in the state. We are a state that heavily promotes tourism and agriculture, not razor wire. In fact the whole state should be strongly opposed to having a prison built in what is effectively our tourism front yard. Sandra Stening Bracknell

Low-tech protest

IT’S amazing how the climate protesters at the Melbourne mining conference managed to organise that protest using nothing but smoke signals and beating drums. Obviously there was not a single piece of mining derived metal-using technology in sight. Tony Donaghy Ellendale