In March 2005, I traveled down to Melbourne to meet with John Thwaites advisor on forests. He seemed impressed by the economic arguments I presented but when it came to ecological issues – he wasn’t so interested. The very distinct impression given was that there’s only one species they worry about, and that’s the marginal …
Less than one week after the government says it can’t and won’t prosecute anyone over the Yalmy looting, a DSE media release came out saying they will get tough with firewood getters who don’t pay their $7 permit (royalty per tonne). The maximum penalty is one year in jail or $5,000 fine with equipment seized …
It’s the kind of destruction we’re used to hearing about in the rainforests of South-east Asia, not in our own backyard. The Auditor General’s investigation into the Yalmy Road illegal logging during the 2003 fires, was released in early May 2004. It criticised the Bracks government for allowing three laws and 17 prescriptions and guidelines …
In 2005, the old Black Forest Timber mill at Woodend and the CRC for Wood Innovations were given $1.1 m from the then Premier Steve Bracks to set up a ‘pilot program for rapid shaping of wooden components for furniture’. Is there really such a huge demand for coffee tables with legs shaped out of …
Did a page get mixed up in the 2005 Victorian Budget papers? Under the ‘environmental initiatives’, we see a page titled “Roads in State Forests”. This looked good – will they be sealing these roads to prevent 40 tonnes of silt washing off every kilometer of road into our streams each year? Now that WOULD …
There’s ever bigger, tougher, meaner machinery that can wipe out half the planet in a tenth the time with less overheads and smooth handling. One lot operating in East Gippsland and the Central Highlands boast one-machine-does-it-all (feller buncher) that has a saw bar 55 inches long and can cut over one metre wide trees. We’re …
A new US style front group was launched on World Environment Day 2005 – calling itself the Australian Environment Foundation. Clever manipulation of the ACF’s name. This is the classic confusion tactic. Remember the Forest Protection Society? It was forced to change its name to Timber Communities Australia after it was challenged as misleading. This …
Us lot of simple folk shouldn’t know this but … The logging industry is worried they might lose their access to old growth forests. To avoid this “loss” they helped establish a secret plan to carry out dodgy technical trials- with a predetermined outcome. It’s called the East Gippsland Project and is an attempt to …
We’d like to sincerely congratulate Steve Bracks for his decision in late May to send 8,000 cattle out of the Alpine National Park. The mostly well-heeled farmers who like to portray themselves as “Mountain cattlemen”, predictably complained loudly despite still being able to graze 10,000 cattle in public land around the edges and getting $100 …
It’s the kind of destruction we’re used to hearing about in the rainforests of South-east Asia, not in our own backyard. The Auditor General’s investigation into the Yalmy Road illegal logging during the 2003 fires, was released in early May. It criticises the Bracks government for allowing three laws and 17 prescriptions and guidelines to …
