Hey John,

It's October and this is Tam's Takes!

I've started a bit of a health kick this month with my staff, so
wish me luck! You can check out the wacky ways I've been
exercising here.
( [link removed] )
There's a video on my brand new TikTok account with some funny
behind the scenes stuff - you can follow me @senatortammytyrrell
( [link removed] ) .

This month I'm giving you my two cents on a sugar tax and sharing
your thoughts on unpaid placements for students.

MY QUESTION TO YOU:

Should the Federal Government help struggling medical clinics to
stay afloat - even if they are privately owned? If yes, what sort
of assistance should they provide?

(In Tasmania, many rural and regional medical clinics have
closed. This is due to a lack of doctors, the clinic running at a
loss, or several other factors).

Email me at [email protected] with your thoughts, and
I'll share some of the responses with you next month!

HOUSING FUTURE FUND VICTORY

In case you missed it:
( [link removed] ) we did it.

We got a minimum guarantee of 1200 homes for every state and
territory across the line when the Housing Australia Future Fund
passed the Senate in early September.

This will mean that homelessness in Tasmania is going backwards
for the first time ever. I'm so proud to have delivered this for
Tassie (and the rest of the country).

MY HOT TAKE:

Do you think there should be a junk food tax? We urgently need it
and a sugar tax on all soft drink.
— Ian (via email) ( [email protected] )

Hey Ian, you're not the first person to raise this with me, and I
don't think you'll be the last. As someone who doesn't mind a bit
of junk food every now and then, I can safely say that I eat it
knowing it's not good for me. Every now and then you just feel
like a bit of a treat. I don't see much harm in that.

We've got a lot of people up in Canberra who are excited about
banning everything they don't like. I take a different view.

I think you give people information, you let them make a decision
based on the facts, but you don't take away their ability to
decide things. That's what a sugar tax would do.

(Or at least, that's what it would do for people who don't have
much money. Because millionaires aren't going to notice if the
cost of a Caramello Koala goes up by 50 per cent, but people
around my neck of the woods sure are).

YOUR TAKES:

Last month I asked: Should businesses and organisations pay for
students to do practical placements?

Here's some of my favourite responses:

I do believe they should because if they do full time work
placement than how do we expect them to leave that & then go to
do a paying job afterwards?
They have rent, electricity, medication & food to pay for. Are we
trying to kill these poor students that we need in those areas of
qualifications?"
— Clare

Noo I don’t think they should be payed for placement. It is part
of the learning, otherwise you should talking about paying all
placements for everyone not just one."
— Paul

Yes students should absolutely be paid. How does a single mum,
looking to change careers, pay for childcare and rent in those
two or three week stints of working full time in a hospital or
medical setting?"
— Marcus

Whilst I believe organisations need to pay the students a
wage/salary it should be at a greatly reduced rate compared to
fully qualified staff. This will allow students to pay for the
basics in life (roof over their heads / food on the table) but
not profit from their efforts."
— Les

My thoughts? Here's a video of what I think. Young people in my
office tell me this is going gangbusters on social media which
I'm a bit surprised by, but I'm glad people are engaged on this
issue! It's a real problem.

What do you think? Let me know by replying to this email.

Until next time,

Tammy

You've received this because you've added your name to receive
emails from the Jacqui Lambie Network. To manage when you receive
important campaign updates like this, click here
( [link removed] )
. If you would like to, you can [link removed] here. We'll be
sorry to see you go.

Emails are our most powerful tool for communicating with
supporters like you about opportunities to make a difference to
our campaigns. We don't take donations from massive corporations
or cashed-up unions. We're solely funded by small donations from
people investing in turning ideas into results. Put simply, we
win big fights through small donations. Can you donate $10 now?
( [link removed] )

Authorised by J. Lambie, Jacqui Lambie Network, PO Box 264, Burnie, Tasmania 7320.