There is something very special about our young people.
Living on an island where close knit communities remain the norm, more commonly asserted as everyone knows each other, they share a bond that makes them proudly Tasmanian and fiercely loyal.
They are strong-minded and resolute and clear about democracy and injustice. Gone are the days where compliance is the most admirable quality. Questioning, expressing views, and thinking differently about challenges and issues are admired and highly sought after by employers.
We are a busy family often rushing from here to there and back again. Nonetheless, I strive to keep things in perspective no matter how challenging the situation.
When considering the historical and cultural issues associated with apparent retention of full-time students to year 12, the latest Productivity Commission report tells us that catholic and independent schools (63.8 per cent), despite significant federal and state government funding on top of weighty fees, are unable to retain students at the same rate as their public counterparts (80.4 per cent).
Conceivably it is the diversity of public college offerings and the critical mass of students that drives retention success. And when you add part-time students to the equation with Tasmania having a higher proportion due to caring and work responsibilities, apparent public college retention has hovered around the 80 per cent mark for a decade.
Revelations that an astute art purchase by local government has been missing for more than 16 months leads us to question: Where's Whiteley?
Renowned Australian artist, the late Brett Whiteley's AO, Waves V was purchased by the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in 1976 at a cost of $800. The drawing has never been heard of again and has never been hung.
Approaching our 20th wedding anniversary I want to tell you about my first love - test cricket.
A passion so difficult to describe that it raises the ire of those devoid of similar desire.
Watching or listening to every ball of a test match is blissfully right, full of expectation and contentment. It's a muse that demands attention.
My greedy love affair has rarely been in question. A fleeting fancy with one day cricket and modified formats like Twenty20 momentarily grabbed my attention, but both were unable to secure my affection.
What is it with some Australian political leaders appearing more concerned with the world’s most powerful leader being banned from the social media platform Twitter rather than to call him out for inciting violence?
Further, why is it so difficult to condemn the President of the United States for the role he played in encouraging his American ‘patriots’ who he ‘loves’ to act deliberately and unlawfully?
Recording time continues to fascinate me. From the Prime Meridian to admiring timepieces in shops and online, there remains something important to punctuality.
Perhaps it is simply good manners. Perhaps it is a feeling of not letting people down.
Perhaps is a guide to being better. Whatever it is, time should be a companion and not the enemy of reward.
The setting is not a location that we ever thought would feel comfortable.
Mobile houses crammed in with tents and swags and gazebos taking up the remaining space. A community with unspoken rules that you dare not break for threat of eviction.
A sense of privacy created by strategically parking cars and hanging washing on a mobile clothesline. Just enough to shield fellow holidaymakers from any tiffs that inevitably ensue when living close together.
African American country music star Charley Pride was as important to my childhood as any cricket bat or my first soccer ball gifted to me by Tasmanian cricket legend Roger Brown who played more First-Class games than any Aboriginal player before the heroics of Test legend Jason Gillespie.
Pride's music was played on the radio before his skin colour was revealed.
As he detailed on numerous occasions the only difference was his "pigment".
He accepted that to achieve early success he must not be defined by his skin colour. Pride had no choice.
The door should not have been left slightly open; it was an accident; a forgotten formality after tasks were completed. It did not really matter but created an accidental air of excitement and expectation. I should not have been looking but it was impossible to avoid the quickest glance en route to the bathroom again...
Struggling to sleep with excitement and with anxious feelings preventing shut-eye, I was desperate to see the presents yet petrified that I may come face to face with Santa Claus.
He was such an unknown and there was a clear and present threat that gifts could be rescinded should I disturb him at his work.
My parents were of the generation who met at dances. Introductions and engagements and marriages had their foundations on the dancefloor.
At country dances in the local hall there was no opportunity to slide into people's direct messages or swipe right, this was full noise courting with the brave and shy equally catered for as a likely young lad or lass could swoop and swoon.
Once upon a time, a popular department store plastic and wire excuse of a tree that adorned our sunroom with a unique lean that had to be leveled with the assistance of a folded sheet of A4 was all we had for Christmas.
There was not enough tinsel across Northern Tasmania to hide its inadequacy.
The tree signified Christmas and that meant so much, but it was half-baked ornamentation at best.
Super is complex, but important and most would agree essential to support the life of which we have become accustomed.
Superannuation funds invest the savings on our behalf, growing the pool in good times whilst suffering any downtown in the market when economic times are not so good.
It was the Australian Council of Trade Unions working with the federal Labor government who delivered the super reforms with the legacy of their decision making continuing to support workers and their families for generations.
Initially, superannuation was also employed to compensate for wage growth with the Hawke government reaching an agreement with the ACTU known as the "accord".
It will not be long before we are comparing the price of diesel or unleaded fuel against the price of a kW of charge.
When watching the Bathurst 1000 motor race recently, Master 11 and I contemplated how long it will take before the great race only involves electric vehicles.
That may seem a ridiculous or to some even a sacrilegious proposition.
However, with Holden no longer producing cars in Australia and the Chevrolet Camaro likely to fill the void to dual with the Ford Mustang, these world leading companies will not be left behind in the world of electric.
A celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can be traced back to the 1920's and 30's when the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association and the Australian Aborigines League began raising awareness and promoting rights.
Gradually, the notion of celebration has grown with Torres Strait Islanders added to the NADOC acronym in 1991 to recognise their contribution as original owners.
Like reconciliation, acceptance of NAIDOC Week has been a slow process
Now, New York City does not sleep because of the fear of what is to come to finalise the election result.
The tension underpinned by lies and caused by a failure to accept democracy including unconscionable comments that have been called out by major television networks, and the potential for civil unrest fortified by a reprehensible set of gun laws underpinned by a missing comma in the Second Amendment, has created a cocktail of conflict and concern for the future.
For the centre of the world: "If I can make it there, I'm gonna make it anywhere, It's up to you, New York, New York".
Being the public face of leadership during a significant and ongoing crisis is relentless. Day after day of press conferences answering, or not answering, questions and attempting to share information in an unpredictable environment is tough work.
Due to the tragedy of coronavirus deaths and the loss of businesses and livelihoods, there will be also be a mental health impact across the community.
Mental health is important to all of us. Staying strong during times of challenge or crisis or failure or grief or loss is difficult for the most durable minds. Mental health should not be weaponised,nor hidden or forbidden from conversation.
And since the end of World War II parents and guardians have been hyperventilating about ideas and preparation of costumes for primary school book parades with peak stress hitting at around 7pm the evening before.
What have you organised? What time is the parade? Who are your friends going as? You do understand the theme? We have left it too late ...
The questions and frustrated statements and guilt and panic continue creating all manner of hullabaloo.
This is nothing at all against Redback (South Australian) primary producers, but it is their Shiraz we crave, not their spuds.
The campaign slogans roll as quickly as melted butter off freshly boiled pink eyes: Save our Spuds; As Tassie as Spuds; Support our Spud Farmers; For Spuds' Sake; Potatoes before Politics; Proud as Potatoes; Give Stink eyes over Pink Eyes.
