Open letter to Peter Garrett

Tony Royce

Nothing short of acts of criminality are being undertaken in those forests. Magnificent, precious and irreplaceable rain forests are being clear felled and reduced to woodchips! The devastation we witnessed was almost unbelievable! The wastage factor is extraordinary and far outweighs the quantity of useful product obtained. Beautiful and vital rainforests containing 400 year old precious and valuable Myrtle trees are being mercilessly slashed with mechanical devices and then the huge waste is burnt with napalm (and I thought it was only the Americans that committed such atrocities) and then any remaining animals that are not cooked alive by the napalm are poisoned with 1080 to stop them eating the new plantation. The tour was an intellectual and emotionally exhausting experience!

Mr Garrett,

A few days ago I went on an organised bus tour of the forest areas here in the North East of Tasmania. There were 100 concerned people on the tour including two forestry experts and one scientist on water as well as business people and farmers.

Both of the forestry experts cut down trees for a living and have many decades of experience between them. What we saw and what we heard from the experts on that trip was nothing but disaster!

Nothing short of acts of criminality are being undertaken in those forests. Magnificent, precious and irreplaceable rain forests are being clear felled and reduced to woodchips! The devastation we witnessed was almost unbelievable! The wastage factor is extraordinary and far outweighs the quantity of useful product obtained. Beautiful and vital rainforests containing 400 year old precious and valuable Myrtle trees are being mercilessly slashed with mechanical devices and then the huge waste is burnt with napalm (and I thought it was only the Americans that committed such atrocities) and then any remaining animals that are not cooked alive by the napalm are poisoned with 1080 to stop them eating the new plantation. The tour was an intellectual and emotionally exhausting experience!

The new plantation trees grow rapidly and suck up huge amounts of water and further deplete our already dwindling water levels in the rivers. Furthermore, erosion and poisonous run-off into the rivers is contaminating our very life’s drinking water. AND it is not just an environmental catastrophe . . . it is incredibly bad business too! With selective and careful harvesting of these precious trees, instead of them being clear felled and reduced to woodchips, which fetch a few dollars per cubic metre, they could be turned into useful and creative products and would fetch huge amounts of additional income.

As timber these forests are already worth ten times more than what is being obtained for them. As carbon sinks and vital water catchment areas they are absolutely priceless! So why is it happening . . . it is all about GREED . . . the precious rainforests of this island are being destroyed because it is seen as easy dollars by “criminal” (Ref. Revised ed. Macquarie Dictionary 1981) organisations.

The firm of Gunns is not just morally and ethically bankrupt but they are devoid of any business acumen too. . . it is simply not good business what they are doing. AND they are aided and abetted by a totally incompetent State Labor Government ruled over by a parliamentary playground bully boy. Paul Lennon has squandered millions of dollars of this State’s revenue since being the Premier and now he is totally desperate, having brought this State to the brink of disaster. AND DISASTER it will be if the “pulp mill” goes ahead because it will have an insatiable appetite . . . our precious island will be denuded! The ultimate consequence of all this is catastrophe! It denies civilized moral and ethical standards and defies intellectual comprehension!

AND I have not even dwelt upon the health risks to the entire population of the beautiful City of Launceston due to atmospheric toxic pollution by the mill or the devastation of organic farming businesses in the Tamar Valley or the toxic pollution of the Tamar River and the ocean and the poisoning of the marine life therein. Then there is the doubling of the number of log trucks on Tasmania’s roads with their unsafe loads in an emergency, and with drivers desperate to meet deadlines, all adding to risk, to pollution and undoubtedly adding to an increased number of accidents and fatalities. Nor have I dwelt upon the enormous loss of vital tourist dollars to this State, which will happen because the “clean and Green” image will no longer prevail.

BUT you already know all of this Mr Garrett!

For a long time you sang about conservation and the environment and I was entranced by the message and the music of the Midnight Oil band. You were widely known as a passionate advocate and campaigner on a range of contemporary Australian and global issues and as a result you became a former president for the Australian Conservation Foundation. The “Oils” were renowned for their fierce independent stance and active support for the protection of the environment. You received the Australian Humanitarian Foundation Award (environment category) in 2000, and in 2003 received the Order of Australia (Member General Division) for your contribution to the environment and the music industry. You gained many devotees, you had a massive following and you must have made a lot of money out of your concerts and album sales AND WHAT WE ALL THOUGHT YOU TRULY BELIEVED IN.

BUT you became a politician and your principles suddenly disappeared, you no longer had the courage of your convictions and you “sold your soul to the devil!” You have always been gaunt but now you are CROOKED! You have condoned the Pulp Mill and the unbelievable disaster that will follow. What you did not realise is the Labor Party machine knew you were weak and spineless and could be manipulated for their own narrow selfish political purpose! AND THEY HAVE DONE JUST THAT. A sad and shameful demise to an illustrious career.

SHAME on you Mr Garrett . . . YOU ARE AUSTRALIA’S GREATEST HYPOCRITE !!!

On the basis of this level of hypocrisy I call upon you to resign your position as a Member of Parliament as you are clearly not a suitable person to represent the people of Australia . . . YOU SIMPLY CANNOT BE TRUSTED!

Please do not visit this island again, you are not welcome.

Tony Royce.

P.S. I will not be voting for the Labor Party