In 1999, Steve Bracks’ Labor Party won government in Victoria on a commitment to return 28% mean annual natural flow (MANF) to the Snowy River below Jindabyne Dam. Legislation was passed in 2002 to return 21% by 2012. “However, more than ten years on the Snowy River is still running on empty,” said Mr. John …
Bob Humphries has run the biggest woodchip mill in East Gippsland and has operated his Cann River mill for the past 40 years. Bob Humphries is also the President of the Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI). This is the state’s lobby group for harassing the government to give them more forest to clearfell and …
The 11/11; Armistice Day, the day Gough Whitlam was sacked and the day they hung Ned Kelly. In 2010 it was also the day the ALP released its forest policy before the election. It’s business as usual dressed in drag. It includes:A round table meeting process, that won’t meet until after the election. We’d much …
A new bait is being developed that, unlike 1080, is humane, is not expected to affect marsupials and would have an antidote if farm dogs were accidentally poisoned. The chemical works on the haemoglobin, making the animal sleepy before it dies, within 40-80 minutes. With 1080, it takes many hours and causes severe thrashing and …
Plans to burn the state’s public land at a rate of 5% a year is the biggest and most risky experiment ever carried out on our environment. Already it is destroying huge swathes of the Mallee and threatening its already fragile ecosystem and species. The VNPA and the Royal Society in late 2011 hosted a …
On 19th October, an historic Tasmanian forest agreement showed the way that eastern Victoria’s long-running logging conflict can be solved. One of the country’s most battle-worn states has seen the logging industry, Gunns and conservation groups agree to settle the conflict in a way that keeps everyone happy. “This is a courageous move by the …
This paper (PDF) by Mooney et al from 2010 shows that since the arrival of Europeans there has been a massive increase in fire. It also shows that since the arrival of Aborigines 40,000 – 70,000 years ago, there was very little increase in the charcoal record compared to pre-Aboriginal times. It is fairly clear …
For at least the third time, the Government today announced the new additions to the reserve system in East Gippsland. The ALP’s 2006 election promise was to protect ‘the last significant stands of old growth planned for logging’. But environment groups say that most of what has been protected was either in existing protection zones, …
Changes to the federal government’s MRET (Mandatory Renewable Energy Target) legislation in 2009 mean that companies can now accrue Renewable Energy Certificates by burning native forest wood as power. The first application for a 5MW wood-fired power plant by South East Forest Exports (SEFE nee Diashowa woodchip mill), at Eden, is now before the NSW …
You can help cement in Australia’s power companies’ commitment NOT to accept electricity that has been generated from burning native forests. They need to hear from customers early on in this proposal phase. They would be risking their credibility if they accept power obtained from burning our forests and a public boycott of their company …
