Happy New Year! As we confidently close the chapter of 2024 and stride into 2025, we at the Braddon Beagle wish you days overflowing with joy, prosperity, and the boldness to embrace new adventures and change.
Month: December 2024
PLIGHT OF THE WEDGIES
Al Hort and his wife own several hectares of pasture and forest where they enjoy being able to observe Tasmanian Wedged-Tailed Eagles play and hunt.
The following article is a very personal account about the plight of the Wedgies with some important questions that need answering.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE SYSTEM FAILS US?
In the quiet streets of Tasmania’s northwest, it’s not hard to hear the stories of ordinary folks trying to make ends meet. From farmers to small business owners, retirees, and young families, the challenges they face paint a picture that feels far too familiar. Rising costs of living, housing stress, and difficulty accessing healthcare have left many in Braddon wondering: where is the “fair go” Australia once promised?
It’s this feeling of frustration that echoes far beyond Tasmania. Across the Pacific in the United States, a shocking story captured global attention recently: the assassination of a healthcare CEO. It wasn’t the act itself that shocked commentators but the reaction—a nation divided on nearly everything suddenly seemed united in either understanding or outright approval of the event. While violence is never the answer, this incident holds a mirror up to societies like ours, forcing us to ask: what happens when systems fail the people they’re meant to serve?
RESILIENCE IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
In recent times there has been a lot of talk in government about resilience. As a nation we are reeling from large-scale weather-related events such as the Victorian bushfires, and multiple Queensland floods. I’m not an academic or a climate scientist but I can see that things are changing, and uncertainty is increasing.
Australians are being forced to react dramatically to a range of disruptive events – and we’re unprepared. It’s difficult for emergency services and the military to respond to the surge in scale and frequency of calls for help both in our communities and overseas. Help is too late and not there when it’s needed.
Are you prepared?
APPRENTICESHIPS IN CRISIS
The decline in apprenticeship enrolment, the rise in apprenticeship non-completion, and the need for tradespeople should raise alarm bells if you, your son, daughter, grandchild, niece, or nephew is wanting to do a trade, is currently an apprentice, or you are contemplating building in the future.
Read this article and hear firsthand from a builder, who has employed apprentices and has solutions to address this crisis.