RICHARD BUTLER
Forestry and Gunns would seem to have a licence to damage, abuse and cause harm in Tasmania. Not just to native forest, but to its people.
A FRIEND and I had spent the best part of a week on the West Coast, and after a few days away needed to drive back to the Tamar Valley.
We drove up past the Savage River mine, with its great grey green greasy tailings lake in the middle of some superb country. We drove through the Hellyer Gorge and out the other side towards Warratah where there are acres of destoyed bush – the ground layed bare except for rows of dead trees pushed up to make way for plantation timber.
Further along, dense geometrically perfect rows of trees with moss and lichens growing on the trunks and limbs. No air, no growth and in some cases where theyve ripped out the crop the scrub is reappearing and reclaiming some space. But not the forests that once were. Theyre gone.
Then just outside Exeter I thought we were driving into the thickest fog Id ever seen. The lights of the car seemed like white columns of concrete in front of the vehicle. It wasnt fog it was smoke – and I immediately got bad asthma – worse that I get in Melbourne where there are close to 3.5 million people and about a third as many cars. I had not had any Seretide for a week, and I didnt seem to need it. I was immediately ill when we arrived and got out of the car.
That evening I required over 52 doses of Ventolin across an 11 hour period. I needed nebulised product 4 times when I got back into Melbourne.
Inside the McMahon home the smell of smoke was enough to make me convinced there was a fire in the house, and we could not see across his paddock to the front gate – distance no more than 30 meters. I had clothes on the line and they all needed to be re-rinsed and a coat I have will need dry cleaning.
How this can continue year on year without someone picking up a weapon and causing some real indiscriminate harm is beyond me. Melbourne, Sydney and even Calcutta are not a patch on the crappy air in the Tamar Valley. It was the equivalent density to the recent fires in Victoria – the sun was as blocked there is it was at Exeter that day.
All advertising promoting the area as clean and pristine should be referred to the ACCC.
I came back to Melbourne and even on the South Eastern Car Park (Freeway), the air is cleaner.
This is perhaps the greatest form of wanton community abuse Ive ever seen. A terrible and disgraceful reality that despite all protestations pleas, explanations and debate the practice seems to be
without end.
Forestry and Gunns would seem to have a licence to damage, abuse and cause harm in Tasmania. Not just to native forest, but to its people.
And some would dare raise their heads and question a “I dont shop at Gunns” car sticker ?
