Environment
Pulp mill rejection would boost Coalition: poll
ABC Online
A poll commissioned by the Wilderness Society has found the election fortunes of the Liberal Party would receive a boost in the Tasmanian electorates of Bass and Braddon if the Federal Government rejects the planned pulp mill. The Wilderness Society’s Geoff Law has told AM the Essential Research survey polled 500 people in the two marginal electorates. “Effectively it shows that the pulp mill is a major election issue in both Bass and Braddon,” he said. “In both of those electorates it would be a vote winner for the Federal Government, for the Coalition and indeed for any party that stood up and stopped that pulp mill from going ahead.”
What the Wilderness Society says; the Bondi Beach banner …
Preliminary summary of poll: Preliminary_Summary_EMC_Bass_Braddon_October_2007_no_logo.doc
MEDIA RELEASE 3 October 2007
REJECTING TAMAR PULP MILL COULD WIN BASS FOR THE LIBERALS: NEW POLL
Rejecting mill would be a vote winner in both Bass and Braddon
The Liberal Party could reverse a huge swing to Labor in the federal seat of Bass if Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull rejects the proposed Tamar pulp mill, new research has found.
Surveys of almost 500 people across both seats of Bass and Braddon conducted since Saturday have found significant opposition to the Tamar pulp mill and large numbers of people prepared to support a party that stops the mill going ahead.
Conducted by Essential Research, the surveys found 27 per cent of people in Bass would be more likely to vote Liberal if the Minister rejected the proposed pulp mill. Only six per cent of people said they would be less likely to vote Liberal if the Minister rejected it.
Rejecting the Tamar Valley pulp mill would help to reverse a huge swing to the Labor Party in Bass of 11 per cent, the research found.
The research commissioned by The Wilderness Society (TWS) also found a majority of people (56 per cent) in Bass oppose the proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill, while only 33 per cent support its construction in the Tamar Valley. Strong opposition in Bass is running at 46% compared with strong support at only 19%.
The research results of opinions on the Tamar pulp mill are part of a wider survey of 800 people from Northern Tasmania covering important Tasmanian environment issues such as continued logging of native forests and climate change.
“It’s encouraging to see the health of the environment so high up in people’s priorities. It is clear that a majority of people in Bass are concerned about the damage the proposed pulp mill would have on Tasmania’s environment,” TWS Tasmanian campaign director Geoff Law said.
In Braddon, strong opposition to the Tamar Valley pulp mill is almost two-to-one with only 17 per cent of people strongly supporting the proposed pulp mill, while 33 per cent oppose it outright.
Significantly in Bass, support for the Greens has risen sharply to 18 per cent.
The research found that the Tamar Valley pulp mill was the second most important issue for people (43 per cent) in Bass and Braddon leading into the federal election. Healthcare rated as most important (65 per cent), while education and industrial relations were rated well behind as third and fourth most important.
And:
MEDIA RELEASE – 3rd October 2007
GIANT PULP MILL MESSAGE TO MR TURNBULL ON BONDI BEACH
Mr Turnbull urged to ‘Stop the Pulp Mill’ in giant red letters
Giant banners spelling the message STOP THE PULP MILL have been unveiled on Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach, in a clear message to Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The statement, over 70 metres long in big red letters six metres deep, calls on Mr Turnbull to protect Tasmania’s future by rejecting Gunns’ proposed pulp mill.
Mr Turnbull is understood to be announcing his decision on the pulp mill this week. He has received the report from the federal government’s chief scientist Dr Jim Peacock and it is believed that this report highlights inadequacies in scientific research so far undertaken by Gunns.
“Mr Turnbull’s only credible option is to reject the pulp mill,” said Vica Bayley, spokesperson for The Wilderness Society. “Gunns has failed to do the necessary studies to reassure scientists about the pulp mill’s effluent, this should be reason enough for it not to be built.”
“Logging causes climate change and the pulp mill will consume vast areas of unprotected native forest releasing stored carbon as emissions. Just feeding the pulp mill would represent the equivalent of putting an extra 2.3 million cars on the road each year,” said Mr Bayley.
The impact of feeding the pulp mill’s annual consumption of 4.5 million tones of timber on forests and climate change has not been assessed.
The Stern report on climate change stated that ‘curbing deforestation is a highly cost-effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Action to preserve the remaining areas of natural forest is needed urgently’.
“On the issue of climate change we see both major political parties claiming they have policies that address this issue. Yet both parties are supporting a pulp mill that would lock in excessive levels of logging and ongoing carbon emissions into the future.”
“Protecting existing forests should be the first step in any credible climate change policy,” concluded Mr Bayley. “Approving the pulp mill could shut the door on this option and commit future generations to excessive emissions and worsening weather conditions such as drought.”
And …
MEDIA RELEASE 3 October 2007
BONDI TO BASS
80 Meter long Stop The Pulp Mill Banner On Way From Bondi Beach to Low Head rally on Sunday
The huge banner that reads ‘stop the pulp mill’ that was today unfurled on Bondi Beach in Sydney is now making its was to Bass. The banner will again be unfurled, this time at a rally atLow Head beach on Sunday.
“People at the rally will write “STOP THE PULP MILL” in red letters 7 meters long on the beach,” said Mr Paul Oosting pulp mill campaigner for The Wilderness Society. “The giant message will be filmed from helicopters.”