I READ with dismay, the article regarding Kirsten Richie, the founder of Strike It Out Mobile Sleep Pods, and the Launceston City Council (The Examiner, June 23).
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It is unfortunate she is unable to continue to support the neediest in our community.
Kirsten needs more council support.
Here is a young woman who has cared for the homeless since 2017. She started this wonderful service for the homeless but when it is needed more than ever, the Council steps in!
With the huge increase in homelessness the Council is denying these people a place to sleep. And the Council is worried about flooding? Kirsten will close them if flooding is likely.
I realise that Councils need to conform with by-laws and relevant Government legislation, but Councils also have the capacity to change the by-laws.
The article next to Strike It Out, showed Jeremy Rockliff and Michael Ferguson smiling with a young couple wanting rental accommodation for their pets!
I like dogs, but to compare the two stories and see the difference between pets and homeless people, some with young children, demonstrates priorities.
The homeless need support, and now is the time the Council works out a way to resolve this issue.
I realise that there are many matters that the council has to deal with, but please do not put this matter on the back burner for much longer.
The homeless need support now! Society is judged by how they treat their poorest in the community.
Bev Morris, Launceston
Editor's note: See today's story in The Examiner.
Will Smith is spot on
WILL Smith's comments on Ashley Youth Detention Centre (The Examiner, June 26) are spot on. The chorus of populist politicians and their ilk to immediately close AYDC, is infuriating to say the least.
They fail to recognize the significant complexities of running such an institution, and simply ignore the separation of powers between Parliament and the judiciary.
The Youth Magistrates commit young offenders to AYDC for good reason, and only after all other avenues of rehabilitation have been exhausted.
The government's intent to move built infrastructure close to Hobart,will not in itself solve current problems, but most likely be an expensive folly!
Greg Hall AM, Deloraine
Experts continue to support gender affirming care
I WAS saddened to read Chris Bowditch's letter (The Examiner, June 18) which sought to create the impression that Tasmania's politicians are too lazy to act on evidence (including the UK Cass Review) that questions affirming health care for young trans and gender diverse people.
The truth is, expert medical bodies continue to support gender affirming care and oppose a potentially harmful inquiry into such health care, and politicians are doing their job by listening to these experts.
They include the peak American and Canadian paediatric societies, as well as the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP).
These bodies have explained that the Cass Review provided no new evidence against gender affirming care, that clinical evidence shows affirming care is still the best model to ensure the health and wellbeing of young trans people, and that an inquiry could be a platform for more hate.
On the basis of all this, the RANZCP has rejected the need for an inquiry into gender affirming care in Australia.
I urge the Tasmanian Government to listen to the experts and not pursue an unnecessary and potentially damaging inquiry.
Dr. Ash Russell, Treasurer, Equality Tasmania
Crime dilemma
THE way youth crime is at the moment is undescribable, they steal, stab people, assault people, break into shops you name it they do it, and the court system lets them get away with it, if they want to be criminals treat them as so, put them in with the real ones, regardless of age, they will soon find out where they went wrong.
Jeanette Baker, Kings Meadows
Pill testing
CONGRATULATIONS to the Victorian government for allowing pill testing at this summer's festival season, plus a permanent site in Melbourne.
Following the ACT and Queensland governments, the critics of this progressive health and possibly life-saving legislation, will undoubtedly have a glass or bottle of alcohol in one hand whilst delivering an outdated sermon on illegal drugs, totally oblivious and in possible denial that alcohol is the biggest addictive drug in today's society, with an unattractive track-record of social upheaval and breakdown.
Kenneth Gregson, Swansea
