Letters to MPs

Geoffrey Lea

Buck and Joan Emberg
Dear Parliamentary Representative,

The process by which this major project has moved through the planning processes has not been edifying. Public confidence in government probity has been seriously undermined. To ensure your consideration of this legislation is not cast under a similar shadow it is essential you make a full disclosure of any conflict of interest at the beginning of your contribution to this debate.

You must declare any political donations received by you (or your party) from the proponent, any shares you or your family hold in the proponent company or any business dealings. In addition you should give an undertaking, should you pass this legislation that you (or your party) will not accept any donations from the proponent for a period up to and including the next election. In the event you resign from parliament, you should undertake not to enter into a business relationship or employment with the proponent for a period of 3 years.

These are the minimum declarations and commitments required to ensure public confidence in your consideration of this legislation.

Yours Sincerely

Geoffrey Lea

Well Councillors,

The time draws near when your mettle will be sorely tested.

Most of you I assume, due to your work commitments, are relative newcomers to the pulp mill debate and have little knowledge of what has transpired since this sorry debacle started several years ago.

I along with my fellow residents closest to the proposed Longreach site, some six kilometres from the so called “Bell Bay Industrial Precinct”, have lived this nightmare, spent countless sleepless nights (and still do) and every other waking hour researching, trolling the net, gathering information, reading reports, speaking to those from around the world who live near these forest abattoirs.

Our lives on hold, forever changed.

We have poured over the guidelines, the proponent’s last minute changes, followed the twists and turns and made many submissions. We have organised public meetings (something that no one from government, opposition or the proponent has ever seen fit to do), invited qualified speakers, even invited the proponent, to no avail.

We have watched our democratic rights evaporate faster than The Great Lake, we have been snubbed and ridiculed, labelled extreme green tree huggers and even “Un Tasmanian” by the tiny but powerful minority who stand to make some shekels from this affront to humanity.

We have been deserted by all our political representatives and I personally know hundreds of everyday working folk, beautiful people young and old who have their backs squarely flattened against the wall. I enjoy the company of these marvellous individuals, solace in an otherwise dark and stagnant world created by lack of transparency and the opaqueness of alleged governance.

You as our last legitimate line of defence against this ill conceived paradigm have the opportunity to stand up as representatives of the people and say “NO” to the process which even now makes a mockery of you as Members of the Legislative Council.

What power the proponent has over those who have made decisions thus far remains a mystery, but now is your chance to dispel the myth, your chance to represent the people.

Even if you somehow believe the concept of a high volume low return commodity unleashed in a volatile world market is to be the saviour of Tasmania, surely you must be able to see that the process that has seen this proposal bulldoze its way across the clear felled slopes of Tasmanian democracy is a complete travesty of due process and has, with government support, eliminated any form of public input.

Turn the tide; send the effluent that has poured over the people back to the outfall of outdated pulp mill proposals.

Stand tall as representatives of the people, take charge of your office and say an emphatic “NO” to the Premier and the proponent.

Restore faith in our democratic process; restore faith in our elected representatives.

Show courage, show leadership.

Respect comes to those who stand true; contempt is heaped on those who lay down.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

I hope your hearts guide you.

Dave Groves

South Launceston.

(Formerly of Kayena)

OPEN LETTER TO THE POLITICIANS ABOUT TO VOTE ON THE PULPMILL.

I thought that due process through the RPDC would give me an honest say in the process through my elected members of Parliament. The minute Gunns was notified they had not complied they pulled out of the process and a new short assessment was implemented. A process that sees a QC quit, two independent experts quit, two national TV programs showing undue influence by the government, the fishing and farming industries quaking in their boots and business owners like me ashamed to say that we are mute in this debate for fear of reprisals.

I am horrified that a project could even be suggested that will kill many more Tasmanians on the roads! This is not greenie, tree hugging fabrication, this is from Gunns IIS and as I live on the West Tamar with 4 Kids and see log trucks weaving on the road. I urge you to either build a rail network to carry the trees, no matter what the cost, or VOTE NO.

You know about duty of care and we voted for you believing that you have a strong stomach for justice and doing what the people want. Will your vote allow dioxin ( a long time known cancer causer ) to flow into Bass Strait? VOTE NO.

The economy is ticking along nicely without a pulp mill. To risk so much for the sake of 200 long term jobs is too big a risk. Already I have sent this to hundreds of other business owners who believe and quietly talk about a pulp mill jeopardising the clean, green image as insanity. VOTE NO.

Whether you are Labor, Liberal or Independent, we expect you to represent the views of the majority. This is a democracy not a Big Business hand in hand with the government of the day and the benefiting unions, against the public matter. We are the Businesses, we are the electricians, we are the government. VOTE NO.

I have never spoken openly against the mill. I want value added timber products to create jobs for my fellow citizens. Not at this cost however and the above points are the non emotional ones. The facts speak for themselves. There are 8 matters out of half what should have been assessed, proving serious downfalls and demanding that YOU allow them licence to pollute. VOTE NO.

Warm regards,

Signed by a prominent Launceston business person who sent this letter as a matter of conscience

LAST CHANCE?

All too soon the politicians of Tasmania will vote for, or against, a pulp

mill in the Tamar Valley.

I am concerned enough to write this and encourage you, if you agree, to also send it to those who are voting…

FOR THESE REASONS:

The Process. As a citizen of Tasmania I play by the rules of the state and country. All of them. I do not believe we have had due process in this decision and it concerns me greatly that we have got to this stage where non professionals consider 1/2 the information and decide to provide loopholes for the proponent to dump us with a NON world’s best practise pulp mill. Jobs yes…BUT…jobs at any cost no!!!

More Deaths: Hazardous log trucks on dangerous roads already put school buses, private road users and all others at serious risk. Yet…we have a proponent who is willing to place all road users at risk…And…we have a government hell bent on letting them do it!!!!! And don’t forget the asthmatics and the increased air pollution.This is a crime!

Pollution. With a Government willing to let a company pump dioxin into Bass Strait, I probably won’t be ordering scallops, lobster or fish again. The slightest hint of dioxin in seafood will wreck the fishing industry, put fishermen out of business and poison people. Where will the people who lose their jobs find work? At the pulp mill? No.

The Future. Many mainlanders have moved to Tasmania over the last 5 years. Many of them settled in the Tamar Valley and they did not move here for jobs in a pulp mill. Hundreds of houses in the vicinity of the Valley are now for sale or have just been sold at much less than their real value. Vineyards cannot sell, potteries are closing, organic farmers will lose their certification…yet we have a Government willing to put a pulp mill before people and a multi-billion corporation above small business!

Timber. Take a drive behind Nabowla to Nunamarra…see the devastation of clear-felled logging coups…smell the burning…watch the greenhouse gases rise. This is not world’s best practice! Turning forests into pulp is Third World practice!

Act Now!

1. Paste ‘Open Letter” and ‘Last Chance’ to an email.

2. Make any changes you wish.

3. Sign your name

4. Send the email to all politicians (including local councils). You can get their addresses from the TAP website on www.tapvision.info

5. Send your email to everyone in your address book and ask them to do the same.

6. DO IT NOW! THIS MAY BE OUR LAST CHANCE TO SAVE TASMANIA AND OUR DEMOCRACY

Buck and Joan Emberg