Forestry
No, thanks!
There was no paid day off, there was no sunshine and there was no room for the hundreds turned away from yesterday’s “Say NO to this pulp mill” rally at the Albert Hall in Launceston.
Unlike those who embraced their traditional “arch enemy” Howard a year ago in this hall, those who packed “the Albert” to the rafters were there for love of community, love of Tasmania, love of the environment. Refreshingly, money was not on the agenda.
For a couple of hours no one moved, the community was as one.
In an enlightening speech that saw goose bumps rise on my body, Trudy Maluga spoke about the pulp mill from a traditional owner’s point of view, a view neglected by the money hungry bandits that seek to trash Tasmania.
Les Rochester read from the proponents own documents, documents on which the community could not comment, which said in essence that the pulp mill effluent will impact Bass Strait and its marine life.
Les also confirmed more jobs have been shed in the last 12 months in the forest industry than the stated 220 that will be created by this so called “industrial museum”.
Dr Tony McCall spoke about the alternatives to a pulp mill.
Tony is a man of vision, a man who sees a great future in Tasmania, but sees bleakness in Tasmania that will be carried by our children and theirs if this proposal gets off the ground.
There were other awesome speakers who talked about forest devastation and loss of our native species.
The youth were in strong numbers and 14 year old Anna Bichel had the crowd cheering with both her song and speech.
More than 2500 people that were in Albert Hall for this celebration of life, love and community gave this pulp mill proposal a resounding “NO”.
It was a great day for Tasmania and a great day for community.
Dave Groves is a resident of West Tamar, not East Tamar as stated in an earlier post!
What Rene reckons:
Media Release
RENE HIDDING, MHA
Leader of the State Opposition
Saturday December 3, 2005Greens cynically manipulating pulp mill project for political gain
Opposition Leader Rene Hidding today called on all clear thinking Tasmanians to inform themselves of the facts surrounding the proposed pulp mill and to not be seduced into what is essentially a sleazy Green political project – a project that has more to do with the next State election than Tasmania’s economic future.
Mr Hidding slammed the organisers of today’s anti-pulp mill rally, accusing them of peddling misinformation to frighten Tasmanians, because they are opposed to development at all costs, and also because they want to cynically manipulate this important project to try to save some vulnerable Green seats at the next election.
Mr Hidding said it wouldn’t matter if the pulp mill ran on air alone – extreme conservation groups like the Wilderness Society would still find a reason to oppose it.
“The pulp mill is their new pet political project and they will spin and manipulate it as best they can to try to protect their own very vulnerable Green seats in Parliament, and to heck with jobs and the Tasmanian economy. Tasmanians need to understand that this is the Greens’ disgraceful and cynical game plan,” Mr Hidding said.
“An environmentally friendly pulp mill is pivotal to Securing our Economy. It will generate thousands of jobs, unprecedented investment, and value-add our timber resource.
“The fact of the matter is, the most stringent, world-leading guidelines have been established by the Resource Planning and Development Commission, and unless the proponent meets these, the pulp mill will not happen.
“The State Liberals fiercely support the pulp mill project, providing it meets these stringent guidelines set by the independent umpire.
“But not even an independent umpire and the most stringent environmental guidelines are good enough for the Greens – because it is development they oppose, and the pulp mill is now a highly political project for them.”
Mr Hidding said Tasmanians needed to inform themselves of the facts surrounding the pulp mill project, and not get suckered in by the hysterical, mindless and deceitful propaganda campaign of the Greens and their cronies.
Mr Hidding said it was also timely that Labor’s candidate for Bass at the next election, Michelle O’Byrne, got off the fence and publicly declared whether she supported this vital project, or whether she was still beholden to the dark-green environmental policies of her failed former leader Mark Latham.
From the archive: A former Liberal leader who had second thoughts about Liberal forestry policy: