The native-forest-logging boat is sinking. It’s old and leaky but the Government keeps burning out bilge pumps trying to keep it afloat. Yet another costly pump is about to be installed. An Industry Transition Taskforce (ITT) Mark 4, will be established to try to help logging workers deal with the ‘challenges’ they face. The Minister …
Your neighbourhood farm store can now sell a super deadly poison (tasteless, odourless and without an antidote) to farmers virtually without any foolproof checks. In mid-June, the Bracks Government announced that it would allow the sale of 1080 poison baits from your local shop. Up until now they were only available from the Department of …
When Labor announced it would protect all “significant stands” of old growth as part of their 2006 election promises, they must have been using their special parliamentary dictionary. In Eastern Victoria, Mr Bracks protected only 5% of areas identified as critical to extinction-proof native species and protect domestic water catchments. The Forest Alliance had carefully …
Many astute observers are starting to question the fires that have enveloped Victoria’s east since 2003. This may sound like a conspiracy theory but the evidence seems to be mounting. Many of these areas were deliberately left to burn for a day or two before fire-fighters were sent to attack them or that the back …
The native-forest-logging boat is sinking. It’s old and leaky but the Labor Government keeps burning out bilge pumps trying to keep it afloat. Yet another costly pump is about to be installed. An Industry Transition Taskforce (ITT) Mark 4, will be established to try to help logging workers deal with the ‘challenges’ they face. The …
Backpackers and tourists seeking a nature experience have increased by 55% in Gippsland since 2005/2006. Visitors primarily come from Western Europe and the UK to see what they don’t have over there – wild spaces, unmanicured forests, and big, old trees. For some reason, the government have been historically reluctant to promote the green hinterland …
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) audits how well the DSE scrutinises logging contractors. Their audits have come under some criticism over the last four year so the EPA have appointed Sinclair Knight Mertz (SKM) to review how it does the audits. So SKM will check the toothless EPA checks of the monitoring by government foresters …
When the Snowy Hydro Scheme was completed in 1967, it captured 99% of the Snowy River headwaters.The Expert Panel Environmental Flow Assessment of the Snowy River Below Jindabyne 1996, recommended 28% annual natural flow as the minimum environmental flow required for the Snowy below Jindabyne Dam. Steve Bracks won government in Victoria in 1999 with …
The Victorian Renewables Bill allows the clearfelling of native forests to burn for ‘renewable’ energy. A Greens amendment to prevent this was defeated on the 9th of August when Labor, Liberal and National MPs voted to allow native forests to be thrown into furnaces. Greens MLC, Greg Barber, said that in the run-up to the …
We have to be very careful of applauding carbon-trading schemes as the solution to reducing emissions. The NSW government’s greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme is so flawed some participants are rewarded for ‘cutting pollution’ when their emissions have in fact increased. Researchers at the University of NSW showed two Queensland coal-fired power stations earned millions …
