Federal governments of all persuasions have historically protected and funded Australia’s forest destruction.
Federal governments of all persuasions have historically protected and funded Australia’s forest destruction.
Howard secretly promised a $4 million gift to a forestry union group just three days before the last election. This explains why the loggers, with encouragement from the union, rejected an $800 million forest jobs package offered by Mark Latham, for the $70 million package offered by Howard. This and the jubilant response by loggers …
After Mitsubishi announced it was considering not buying chips from old growth forests, Nippon (the company that buys East Gippsland’s woodchips) announced it was also reviewing its policy on taking old growth woodchips. Tasmania’s logging industry group, FIAT, claims that Mitsubishi had been “influenced by the economic vandalism and treachery of extremist environmental groups”. Old …
Australia is rapidly losing the capacity to carry out world-class wildlife research because of a dramatic decline in funding and loss of jobs for highly qualified scientists. Australian National University ecologist Professor David Lindenmayer said government funding cuts and retrenchments had forced Australian wildlife research “into meltdown”. He said despite alarming and continuing loss of …
The East Gippsland RFA had its eighth anniversary on the 3rd February. We were told all that time ago that it was to protect the forests, but conservation promises have never been honoured while woodchipping volumes have more than doubled. The five yearly review has not happened. It is now totally obsolete and should be …
The Tasmanian Government will declare Gunn’s planned $1.2 billion pulpmill (one step along the production line from woodchips) as a Project of State Significance. This will allow it to be fast tracked and bypass many environmental and other planning regulations. It recently released proposed amendments to planning laws to ensure a smooth approvals process for …
Federal assistance to help dairy farmers and regions affected by dairy deregulation has been given to a Noojee sawmill. $350,000 of public money was handed to the mill which is planning to install kilns and produce veneer laminates. They claim they might create 10 jobs from the money.
We’ve all tried to digest and analyse what happened and why – tried to make sense of the senseless results to the point of depression. Despite our species priding itself on being a complex and intelligent creature, we’re still an animal that has two basic drivers – fear and greed. Those in power know this …
In his environment speech on May 27th, Opposition Leader Mark Latham squibbed on protecting Tasmania’s threatened forests and wildlife. Greens Senator Bob Brown said Labor is set to endorse Prime Minister Howard’s agreement to cut down, burn and poison the grandest forests in the southern hemisphere at the fastest rate in history. Bob Brown welcomed …
New legislative measures for Tiger Quolls are coming in thick and fast, with upgraded “protection” at both State and Federal level. Following the new Action Statement at State level last year, the Feds announced on May 17 that Tiger Quolls are in deep trouble and should be upgraded to “endangered”. I tell you what, if …
The more important anniversary for the nation wasn’t PM Howard’s 30 years on the taxpayers’ teat that was celebrated recently in Sydney, but his eight years as PM and the 6 million tonnes of native forest chips per year he’s approved since 1996. Conservatively, that’s 45 million tonnes during that time as PM (refer ABARE …
