The News Review:
- Tasmanian bee industry faces disease threat
- Green diapers: Love at first flush
- Tasmania tipped to face $1.5 billion shortfall
- Claims against Scottsdale GP released
- Disadvantaged disabled focus on skills shortage
- Fresh concerns for Tasmania’s rail network
Tasmanian bee industry faces disease threat
Tasmania Examiner
While the devastating colony collapse disorder – thought to be caused by a combination of stress and disease – is not present in Australia a number of other threats including an incursion of Asian honey bees in Cairns are much closer to home. Tasmanian beekeepers will hear the latest in the fight against the Asian honey bee at the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council's Tasmanian annual meeting which will be held on Friday and Saturday in Hobart. The Asian honey bee can be a carrier of the varroa mite an external parasite of bees that has the potential to destroy colonies of bees. If Tasmania's bee population came under threat it would be more than honey producers who would feel the effects; crop growers rely heavily on pollination from bees. “Bees are the most important animal in the world” council chairman Lindsay Bourke said. “Sixty per cent of everything you eat has to be pollinated first.
Green diapers: Love at first flush
MiamiHerald.com
The “G” stands for “Green” and the company was started by a husband and wife who were horrified by the sheer number of diapers piling up in landfills around the country – each one of which can take up to 500 years to break down in a landfill. Founders Jason and Kim Graham-Nye needed to find an alternative and understood that some people simply couldn’t handle the old-fashioned inconvenience of cloth diapers. They found a company in Tasmania that made flushable diapers and brought the concept to their native Australia where it became a huge hit. Now people around the world are benefiting from this unique innovative way to reduce the amount of garbage in landfills while keeping their kids dressed in healthy alternatives to disposables. The “little g” pant is a diaper cover that’s machine washable and comes in a variety of colors all featuring that reassuring “G. ” The covers are waterproof and feature easy-snap closures as well as enough stretch that your toddler won’t get that pesky rash many disposals can cause if they’re too tight. GDiapers are simply the liners that fit into the diaper covers and that’s what makes the product so green – you can keep the covers and flush the liners which break down naturally in 50 to 150 days.
Tasmania tipped to face $1.5 billion shortfall
Tasmania Examiner
“The Government is doing all it can to save jobs. We are continuing to hold discussions with the unions to see whether we can achieve a vital level of wage restraint but the Government has made it very clear that if this is unable to be achieved it will have to consider other savings options” Mr Aird said. Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief economist Richard Dowling said the State was vulnerable to a drop in traditional revenue. “A broad-based redundancy program is inevitable. We have to cut the (public sector) workforce and it is likely to be a voluntary redundancy initially but it won't be a disaster because with the skill shortage there will be many public servants taken up by the private sector” Mr Dowling said. He said the public payroll had grown by 50 per cent to about $2 billion a year over the past five years and this had soaked up a skilled workforce which the private sector badly needed. In developments in the countdown to the June 11 State Budget: The TCCI is working with the Government on an infrastructure stimulus package.
Claims against Scottsdale GP released
Tasmania Examiner
The claims relate to the diagnosis and treatment of 23 patients seven of whom have since died. Dr McGinity’s daughter Michele McGinity said her father was outraged by the release of the claims and would issue a statement later today. She said of the 23 claims reported four formed the previous claim by the Medical Council of Tasmania 11 were new and eight of the claims were submitted without names attached. Council president Dr Peter Sexton said the detail of the claims had been released in the public interest. “We are aware there is concern and we have provided the information in the public interest. The Act allows us to list the nature of the claims” Dr Sexton said. He said the council had not released the detail of the previous four claims that led to Dr McGinity’s suspension on March 27 but wanted to provide “total transparency” around the re-suspension at 11am today.
Disadvantaged disabled focus on skills shortage
ABC nline
About 150 people from businesses and training organisations have gathered to hear from speakers including Tasmania’s new Social Inclusion Commissioner Professor David Adams. Skills Tasmania General Manager Mark Sayer says educators and employers are being warned to plan ahead to prevent another skills shortage. “The one thing you can count on is that these uncertain economic times will end and we want to be ready for the recovery” he said. “But we’ve also got other people interested in social inclusion issues and training for those people who are usually most affected in these times. Tags: poverty unemployment disabilities tasSearch for news.
Related from Fathernickthomas: Healthcare in America: Right or privilege?
Fresh concerns for Tasmania’s rail network
ABC nline
Another freight train derailment at Colebrook early this morning has put the focus back on the network’s condition and whether it deserved a bigger slice of the Federal Budget. The track’s disrepair is likely to make the job of finding a new operator even harder. The Commonwealth has already put millions of dollars towards upgrading Tasmania’s rail network. But there was no new money in a $22 billion infrastructure package in this week’s budget. Tim Morris from the Greens says the State Government needs to explain why Tasmania didn’t attract new funding. “The severity of derailments in the last couple of years has increased” he said. Richard Dowling from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry says the organisation is helping ensure the next funding submission is successful.