Bob Loone
Tasmania’s rural economy and tourism is already suffering a king hit, with at around $250,000,000 per year lost, (500- 600 farms @ av. $500,000 ea.) and around 1,500 quality direct and downstream jobs due to the closing down of the farms by MIS plantations. Our agricultural production is closing down, and the critical mass needed to continue processing or maintain community viability is being eroded away.
Letter 1
It is sad that Senator Eric Abetz fanatically expounds forestry rhetoric regardless of truth or understanding. To claim that the transfer of our farmland via Managed Investment Scheme (MIS) to Corporations improves our economy or jobs is to flatly deny the facts. I have tried for six months to get information to Senator Abetz and I get back emails of more forestry rhetoric with the instruction “Do-not-reply”.
Tasmania’s rural economy and tourism is already suffering a king hit, with at around $250,000,000 per year lost, (500- 600 farms @ av. $500,000 ea.) and around 1,500 quality direct and downstream jobs due to the closing down of the farms by MIS plantations. Our agricultural production is closing down, and the critical mass needed to continue processing or maintain community viability is being eroded away.
Genuine farmers are denied the right to purchase land because of tax free “investments” in MIS plantations, who received $1.4B last financial year. Senator Abetz remains aloof and inaccessible refusing to acknowledge these facts. At least 80% of rural people are either concerned or alarmed about the corporatisation of our farms and the economic and ongoing national disaster that Senator Abetz is vigorously promoting.
The answer is simple, already irreparable losses are entrenched, but sadly in Senator Abetz’s opinion, taxpayer subsidised, unsustainable, MIS driven forestry schemes reign supreme, regardless of the ongoing economic, environmental, and social devastation they impose. Senator Abetz is the Minister for Forestry, Fishing and Conservation, please try wearing your third hat. We can live without MIS plantations, but we destroy our economy and environment at our peril.
Letter 2
SO 90% of the air pollution we see from forestry burns is steam, according to Mr Eric Abetz (Win TV News at 6 Friday 7th July 2006).
Why is he trying to defend the undefendable, and unnecessary, forestry practices of burning green wood by the thousands of tonnes?
I ask people to look and learn to identify the difference between smoke and fog. It is easy to tell the difference, fog is water vapour suspended in the air, its damp, smoke is a combination of toxic gasses and tiny health destroying airborne particles, and it’s much dryer.
The tiny smoke particles get into, and build up in our lungs, and are known to cause breathing problems, lung failure, heart disease, cancer, and premature death.
People, plants, birds and animals suffer because of smoke particles in the air. Wood and rubbish smoke damages our health and body parts almost identical to what cigarette smoke does.
It also contributes to “Global Dimming” which causes lower rainfall, cold weather, and slow plant growth. (Does that click?)
To claim forestry greenwood burning is 90% steam defies all logic, and sadly is consistent with the misleading and deliberately confusing forestry rhetoric we hear so often, especially from Mr. Abetz. Perhaps the good Senator is relating his 90% steam and 10% smoke to Parliament, it’s a pity we can’t work out some way to harness it.
Bob Loone
President
Western Rivers Preservation Trust
Chudleigh
Email: [email protected]
