Wightman

As Australians, we have a perverse admiration for sportspeople performing heroics on the field after serious injury. Names such as McCosker, Brereton, DiPierdomenico, Ponting, and Cronk - who played an NRL Grand Final with shoulder injuries like a car crash victim, have all been lauded for their bravery. And now it has happened again. The former Australian Test Cricket Captain, Steve Smith, should never have resumed his innings during the fourth day of the recent Ashes Test at Lords. Admittingly, I am not a brain expert, medical doctor nor trauma specialist, however I understand duty of care in the workplace. And for professional cricketers, the cricket field is just that. Smith had already been struck a significant blow on the forearm with a large haematoma developing before medical staff could run out to assist. He was then felled by a 148kmph thunderbolt from English debutant and Hobart Hurricanes player Jofra Archer. And although he was wearing a helmet (without a StemG...

Launceston City Council Deputy Mayor, Councillor Danny Gibson will no longer present his weekly Events in Northern Tasmania segment on ABC breakfast radio. For full disclosure, Danny Gibson is my friend. Launceston is a small regional city. Tasmania is a small state. Across the North-East, it’s not uncommon to know many townsfolk or, in fact, be related to them. On most occasions, living in a close-knit community is pleasurable and relaxed; with g’day or hello common greetings when strolling the city, suburbs or towns; offering salutations to people you only know through tenuous community or family connections. It’s what sets us apart. In a mainland city it just doesn’t happen; it’s too big and too busy to enjoy the pleasantries that we hold dear. Occasionally, familiarity has its drawbacks. Particularly if wearing ‘tracky dacks’ or ‘sneens’ with bedhead hair accompanying your quick trip to the shops, because you’re in such a hurry to grab the kids’ ‘must-haves’. The emb...

I’ve had the misfortune of meeting Walter Mikac AM. Walter, the husband of Nanette and father of Alannah and Madeline, was playing golf on 28 April 1996 when his family, and 32 others, were horrifically gunned down by a deranged psychopath at Port Arthur. He is a beautiful man, but I wish I’d never met him. Diminutive, attentive yet softly spoken, unassuming, and generous with his time even though he shuns the spotlight. Understandably, Walter rarely speaks at events nor attends memorials; he prefers it that way. A charitable organisation he co-founded, and remains patron, was established in response. The Alannah and Madeline Foundation’s most recognisable initiative are Buddy Bags which provide vulnerable children escaping trauma and violence with basic essentials. As a result of the tragedy we, as Tasmanians, view gun violence and mass shootings through an unenviable lens. Further, we are very clear about how to limit such events ever happening again. Former Prime Ministe...

Rodney Howell and Riverside High School There is a story about retired Riverside High School Assistant Principal and Exeter Primary School Principal, Mr Rod Howell that you may not know. A version of events that, until now, he has never shared publicly. When the recent search and rescue operation of a 57 year old Victorian man, and a father and daughter from Western Australia began in the Tasmanian highlands during the depths of winter, along with compassion and hope, I had two thoughts: Antarctic Explorers Shackleton and Mawson, and the tragic tale of Teacher-in-Training, Ewen McLeod Scott “aged 27 years” and Riverside High School student, David Julien Kilvert “aged 14 years” who perished on an expedition to Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair Reserve, “…on or about the 21st day of May, 1965…” (Coroner’s Report, 3 August 1965). 14-Year-old Riverside High School Head Prefect, Rodney Howell along with 14 schoolmates; a visiting student from Sydney and three teachers took part in the muc...