The meeting at Hillwood (2)

Dave Groves

Many more spoke, most passionately and all were watched by a silent Mayor Burt who was given the opportunity to speak, but declined. Unusual really as the Mayor has been quite vocal about the merits of this proposal and the meeting was set up as a precursor to a petition organised council meeting that will take place most likely after Malcolm Turnbull hands down his decision on the pulp mill. The Mayor left the meeting early and missed another opportunity to “engage community” as one local had heard him on the radio recently say he was adamant he would do.

YESTERDAY was a very busy day, but an interesting portion was taken up by a community meeting of concerned citizens to listen to each other with respect to the proposed pulp mill.

I arrived in true Tasmanian style a tad late and noticed George Town Mayor Doug Burt being interviewed outside the hall and not far away was a rather tired looking Peter Whish-Wilson getting the same treatment from media in attendance.

I counted around 200 in the hall, many standing around the walls including the George Town Mayor.

Bob McMahon from Tasmanians Against the Pulp mill introduced some local folk who sang about the pulp mill and the negative impact it would have on the valley they love.

Next came a variety of speakers, quite ad hock, who took to the stage and spoke off the cuff or read from pages of thoughts.

Some were doctors like local health professional Dr Andreas Ernst, another speaker Dr Owen Ingles spoke of the inherent risk of the project and lack of research in that area.

Local orchardist Justin Miller spoke eloquently of the work their family had done to build an export business in the valley with the employment of 24 locals, peaking at 60 during harvest and the strength that the clean green image of Tasmania enabled him to sell to a selective overseas market.

Justin spoke of the damage that this pulp mill would do to the family business through perception alone let alone any emissions that are belched from the factory.

It was a very moving speech and the hall rocked with applause to a standing ovation as he left the stage.

Another speaker was local Ed Archer, a farmer from five generations of graziers who spoke of the impact that dirty industry had on their business in the 1970s.

Interestingly he commented that there was now no compulsory acquisition of land to run the pulp mill’s water lifeline and intonated this could stop the mill.

Local vineyard owner, Peter Whish-Wilson spoke of the increasing toll this proposal was taking on his family, his continued trips to Canberra to seek answers to questions unanswered and his disappointment in the breakdown of due process and the “fast track approval” of the mill.

Many more spoke, most passionately and all were watched by a silent Mayor Burt who was given the opportunity to speak, but declined.

Unusual really as the Mayor has been quite vocal about the merits of this proposal and the meeting was set up as a precursor to a petition organised council meeting that will take place most likely after Malcolm Turnbull hands down his decision on the pulp mill.

The Mayor left the meeting early and missed another opportunity to “engage community” as one local had heard him on the radio recently say he was adamant he would do.

A family hiccup saw me leave not long after the mayor, but the meeting ran for around two hours and was well worth attending.

At last the people of the George Town municipality have had an opportunity to hold a public forum albeit organised by local community members and not by their elected representatives or the proponent for that matter.

I guess this is called “public consultation” in Tasmania.