Please sign my petition

Andy Wilson

We all deserve financial security Premier Lennon, not just your beloved forestry workers and I want to know what you intend to do about my wellbeing? Farmers, abalone divers, salmon feeders, hop growers, grape pickers, tradesmen, hospitality workers, gourmet food exporters, honey harvesters and all other people related to businesses and industries dependent on our clean pristine brand should all be asking this same question.

Hi Fellow Tassie Lovers,

Below is a letter I have sent to the Mercury Newspaper and also to all members of the Upper House. I would like to send this letter along with the signatures of those who also feel the same to the Premier’s Office. My request is for you to copy and paste this email into a new email, place your name at the bottom and send it on to all your friends, family and business co-workers.

If we and our children are to have the same opportunities to experience the natural beauty of Tasmania now and forever then we as the public MUST stand up and be vocal about it today.

If you agree with my thoughts and genuine concerns then type your name and suburb on the bottom of this list, people from interstate and overseas are most welcome as it just strengthens my point written below if you are also on there.

If you are the 50th person on the list, add your name and send it back to me at andy@iwantapony.com.au, I will then forward the email onto the Premier.

If you do anything today, do this, it’s a small request and I just can’t bear anymore seeing the home I love being mindlessly abused by government projects with bad economic and environmental policies. There are other options for our state.

We all love Tassie for our own reasons, time for us to stand up and protect her as she deserves.

Subject: A bad smell in Tasmania.

No one seems to realise that Tasmania is on the verge of a massive economical fallout from the debate occurring around the Pulp Mill, and those who will suffer will not be those who work within the forest industries.

The tourism, aquaculture, fishing, farming, viticulture, food and beverage and building industries should all be deeply concerned about the way the Lennon government is conducting itself in regard to projects that require stringent environmental considerations. The Labor government whose seemingly only cares for the wellbeing of Forestry worker’s jobs regardless of outcome, is risking destroying Tasmania’s clean, green, pristine worldwide reputation and brand; if this happens the economic fallout to our state would be devastating.

I run a small business that employs anywhere from 10 to 200 Tasmanians throughout a financial year, based in the tourism and entertainment industries, where the reputation of Tasmania’s ‘Untouched, Pristine, Clean’ wilderness is critical to my survival.

I want to know what plan do you have Premier Lennon for my workers and I when my industry falls over because of the damage you are doing to our island’s image?

What will the Lennon government do for all of our export farmers when their foreign market clients are no longer interested in buying their produce because Tasmania is no longer seen as an unpolluted island but an environment that has been destroyed like so many others?

The same goes for the fish, aquaculture, viticulture, and food and beverage industries. All of the businesses related to these industries depend solely on Tasmania’s worldwide image that our products are the best because we have the cleanest air and purest water. These are Prime Industries that most of Tasmania’s population, outside of forestry, work within.

What about their jobs Premier Lennon?

They won’t have any if you and future governments do not respect the immense economic value Tasmania’s reputation and brand as a pristine island in the world is maintained through actually looking after it.

The biggest loser in all of this is the industry that reversed Tasmania’s downward economic slide in the first place, the industry that is now our greatest source of economic input, Tourism. The only reason we have a tourism industry is again due to the reputation our island has throughout the world. No one came here before because people thought it was too cold and that you had nothing to do, they all were leaving for the same reasons as well. The Bacon government was the first to truly recognise and respect the potential in marketing the stunning landscape of our island to the world. Since that time thousands of jobs have been created, hundreds of businesses born, our housing boom happened because of Tourism, providing much need work for the building industry, not to mention a positive population growth for the first time in decades. All these events occurred because of Tasmania’s Clean, Pristine brand, a brand that is now looking increasingly tarnished.

I want to live and raise a family here as much as the next Gunns Worker, however that future for me seems uncertain now because of the Lennon government’s stance on environmental matters.

We all deserve financial security Premier Lennon, not just your beloved forestry workers and I want to know what you intend to do about my wellbeing? Farmers, abalone divers, salmon feeders, hop growers, grape pickers, tradesmen, hospitality workers, gourmet food exporters, honey harvesters and all other people related to businesses and industries dependant on our clean pristine brand should all be asking this same question.

What are you going to do for us Premier Lennon when all our industries go belly up because you were too unwilling to consider what is best for all of your voting public?

This is not a green topic either Premier Lennon; it is a possible economic nightmare. Anyone who understands that there needs and can be a smart balance between economics and environment knows this. So in that regard an intelligent start would be for the Lennon/Labor government to begin respecting the massive economic value of our still slightly pristine environment and for them to take steps to ensure it remains that way. Tourists never did and never will come here to watch people cut down trees Premier Lennon, why don’t you do as your brand logo suggests and ‘Explore the Possibilities’ for the economic security for our island, and that means outside of forestry.

I’d like to also point out it is our island by the way, not yours, this land is ruled by democracy, not dictatorship. You are in power to serve the public that placed you there, it’s high time you started serving us all, not just your mates who drive log trucks.

Local, Interstate and overseas customers won’t want to buy anything labelled ‘Produce of Tasmania’ either if you, Premier Lennon, continue on your current path and the word ‘Tasmania’ becomes the definition for ‘polluted environment’. That includes wine, cheese, beer, milk, fish, beef, abalone, poppies, apples, cherries to name a few. Brand integrity of a product is critical at the point of sale for the item to sell, basic marketing and economics. Tasmania and everything that comes out of it is our product, “clean, pristine” is our brand, the way things are going our brand will soon be ‘polluted cistern’

I think everyone should think long and hard about the economic crisis our state will be facing if the Lennon government continues operating in its current manner, you should think hardest of all Premier Lennon, maybe then you’ll stop shitting in our backyard before it’s too late to cover the smell.

1. Andy Wilson – West Hobart
2. Emma McGrath – West Hobart
3. Kath Clarke – North Hobart
4. Calli Crump – Taroona
5. James Wilson, West Hobart
6. Christine Wilson New Town
7. Bob Wilson New Town
8. Emily Wilson New Town
9. Marg Enright North Hobart
10. Dave Enright North Hobart
11. Austra Maddox, Battery Point.
12. John Biggs, Mt. Nelson