Before the election, Bracks promised a moratorium on logging the Goolengook forest while the Victorian Environment Assessment Council (VEAC) carried out an investigation. This is better than what we had, but the terms of reference proposed are very limited. They will focus only on swapping already reserved high value forests for Goolengook. A leaked Government …
The opportunistic logging of a 70 km slice of the Snowy River National Park in late February outraged more than just environment groups. The normally compliant Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) is so disgusted by this shameless act of vandalism, it is carrying out an investigation. The plan was to brush up an almost …
The threat of a major charcoal burning industry in East Gippsland has finally died. The company, Australian Silicone, made an announcement on 10th March to the Stock Exchange that it would be withdrawing from feasibility studies and plans to establish a silicone and associated charcoal plant in Australia. It couldn’t find a friendly region anywhere …
At the log truck blockade in Melbourne earlier this year, our independent MP, Craig Ingram, made mention of the vast area of good Alpine Ash locked up in the Snowy National Park and how it could have kept the logging industry afloat a while longer. More recently he gained front page attention in the local …
In late August, Minister in charge of logging, Sherryl Garbutt, announced the intention to offer Victorias 58 sawmill owners money in return for their promised allocation of logs (didnt we hear this same thing six months ago?). However, the offer ignores the woodchip licences. The government is still operating under the illusion that chips are …
New figures from ABARE released in mid August, show a huge glut of existing plantation wood that was previously underestimated. This is due to vast areas of plantations having been established in the 60s and 70s. By 2006, 75% of timber will be taken from plantations rather than the 62% which was previously forecast. The …
Up until March 14th, the RFAs were merely an agreement, not legally binding documents. Labor and Liberals worked like best mates to railroad this legislation through in an early morning Canberra sitting. Its passage was met by a huge cheer from both parties. It successfully allows the Feds to wash their hands of any responsibility …
Two out of three East Gippsland residents want an end to old growth logging.This was the sentiment expressed when an opinion poll was carried out in April after the Goolengook camp was raided and the forests logged. East Gippsland has traditionally been a very conservative region. Politicians have cultivated and pandered to this image for …
Once upon a time, people thought that the logging industry was the big economic winner for a place called East Gippsland. Without it, the people were told, families would be starving in the gutters. The reality nowadays – at most, only 2.9% of the regions employment relies on logging.1 Those employed in the logging industry …
Did you know that the Commonwealth Bank has a 17% share-holding in Gunns? Gunns is the largest woodchipper of hardwood forests in the world, destroying Tasmanias old growth at a rate of knots. So the Commonwealth Bank is effectively responsible for about one sixth of the export woodchipping, clearfelling, burning, poisoning and old growth logging …
