Bryan Green greeted recently at Launceston airport
Tony Abbott
Simon Crean
Community group Friends of the Tamar Valley today criticised federal politicians Tony Abbott and Simon Crean for their misleading comments that suggest a ‘social licence’ for the proposed pulp mill will be an automatic condition of the state’s controversial forestry agreement currently under negotiation.
FTV said three national environmental groups – The Wilderness Society, Australian Conservation Foundation and Environmental Tasmania – were invited to participate in the forestry discussions designed to end native forest logging in Tasmania.However, none of the community groups that oppose Gunns’ proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill had ever been included in negotiations, so either Mr Abbott and Mr Crean had been poorly advised, or they were being deliberately misleading in their remarks that linked the success of the Intergovernmental Forestry Agreement with community support for the pulp mill.
“Theproposed pulp mill will never be accepted by the community that will be obliged to live with the foul odours, noise pollution, and toxic, poisonous emissions it will produce on a daily basis, and it is completely wrong of Mr Abbott and Mr Crean to state otherwise,” said FTV spokesperson Anne Layton-Bennett.
“Gunns’ proposed pulp mill and the IGAare entirely separate issues, so it is both inaccurate and mischievously misleading for Mr Abbott and Mr Crean to suggest otherwise.”
“Mr Abbott may like to claim the mill has undergone stringent environmental assessments, but he should be aware ithas beenconsistently and repeatedly condemned by the broad scientific community as being dangerously flawed, and environmentally harmful. The risks to human health from the mill especially are huge, and an independent risk assessment has never been undertaken,” Ms Layton-Bennett said.
“Before saying he won’t rule out providing federal government funding for the pulp mill should a Liberal government be elected, Mr Abbott needs to remember that lack of public support for the pulp mill has been evident in the results of every poll and survey ever taken, whilethe risks associated with allocating taxpayer funding for the project were clearly set out several years ago by the Economic Unit of the Federal Government’s own Environment Department.”
“The Richard Chandler Corporation understood the financial, political and environmental risks associated with the pulp mill, and it walked away very quickly, yet eight years on Gunns and our politicians still don’t get it. The project was flawed from the start, but once Gunns withdrew from the independent planning process, and was found to be complicit in the previous state government’s fast-tracked approval process, community trust was completely lost.”
“It’s about time that all federal and state politicians – regardless of their party affiliations – understood why the community will never accept the pulp mill being built in the Tamar Valley, and why Tasmanians will never stop fighting to stop it ever being built,” Ms Layton-Bennett concluded.
References:
http://tapvision.info/node/413 http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/notices/assessments/2007/3385/pubs/att-b9.pdf (page 4)
• Examiner Saturday: Gunns completes $20m first stage of pulp mill
• Tasmanian environmentalist released from Tasmanian Prison
Today, Tasmanian environmentalist Ali Alishah has been released after being in Tasmania’s Risdon Prison Medium Security Precinct since the 22nd February.
‘I am continuing my efforts to see Tasmania’s globally significant forests protected and the Tasmanian community delivered a sustainable future. I congratulate Miranda Gibson for her ongoing efforts to protect our natural, environmental and cultural heritage,’ Ali Alishah said.
‘I remain committed to the protection of the Tasmanian marine, forest and community environments. I am proud of my actions in the past and I look forward to the legislated protection of Tasmania’s natural heritage. I have been empowered by the support I have received by the Australian and international community for my actions while I was in prison.
‘I witnessed the ongoing struggle of people in the Risdon Prison while they wait for urgently needed reforms to the prison.
‘The prison has hit a brick wall when it comes to progress with a high percentage of inmates not having sufficient access to active rehabilitative programs.
‘Tasmanians need to recognise the ongoing plight of the most disenfranchised and disempowered members of our community and to ensure that our humanitarian standards apply to all and are conducive to a productive society .”
• Bob Brown: For Newman on the environment, read Abbott
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman’s call to abandon federal laws to protect the environment is a clear sign that Tony Abbott will dismantle the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act if he were to win the 2013 election, Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.
“Newman says the Gillard government is influenced by me on the environment. But you can read his own words as Tony Abbott’s future action,” Senator Brown said in Canberra.
“We are rapidly going back to the days of Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s plan for oil rigs on the Great Barrier Reef – environmentally sensitively, of course.
“I call on Tony Abbott to repudiate the Newman plan. He has been tellingly silent so far,” Senator Brown said.
• IGA FUNDING RECOGNISES REGIONAL GROWTH POTENTIAL
Tim Morris MP
Greens Tourism Spokesperson & Member for Lyons
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
The Tasmanian Greens said today’s $2.3 million Forests Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) funding announcement was positive recognition of the major growth potential in regional Tasmania in agriculture, viticulture and tourism.
Greens Tourism spokesperson and Member for Lyons Tim Morris MP said the announcements were a taste of the kind of benefits regional communities could receive, once the remaining legislative components of the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement were in place.
“Regional Tasmania is a major driver of our economy, which is why the Greens are pleased to see new employment opportunities being created to fuel the economic recovery,” Mr Morris said.
“We need to make the most of our natural advantages as a state, and there’s no doubt that our clean, green produce and our world-class tourism attractions are right up there.”
“Tourism to Maria Island promises to be a real wealth generator for the east coast, which nobody doubts has been badly affected by the downturn in the forest industry.”
“The $1.6 million investment, including an Ecotourism Development Feasibility Study, should help to drive further investment in tourism and small business opportunities.”
“The funding for berry processing in the Derwent Valley is welcome recognition of that area’s huge growth potential as a producer of fine quality produce.”
“Tasmania’s climactic conditions are arguably the best in Australia for production of cool climate wines, and clearly there is still massive scope for expansion of the industry.”
“Unfortunately the Federal Minister still hasn’t been clear about the process by which the remaining funding will be distributed. It will be essential that communities are fully consulted through an open and transparent submissions process.”
“The IGA is certainly not perfect, but it does offer regional communities around the state the potential to diversify, by developing stronger and more robust economies.”
• ABC: Is Greg Hall preparing to backflip? (Audio 2)
• Examiner: Green tells Friends of the Tamar Valley, PtM, TAP etc they are not mainstream …
MATT MALONEY
15 Apr, 2012 04:00 AM
THE state government denies that groups against Gunns’ Bell Bay pulp mill were frozen out of forestry peace negotiations, even though they see the project as key to achieving a sustainable forestry industry.
…
Deputy Premier Bryan Green rebuffed the assertion, saying anti-pulp mill groups did not represent mainstream views.
Forestry negotiations, and the resultant forestry statement of principles and IGA, were borne from Gunns’ withdrawal from native forestry to focus on its pulp mill.
Premier Lara Giddings a year ago said that environmentalists may have to accept a pulp mill in return for protection of Tasmania’s high-conservation native forests from logging in forestry negotiations.
Mr Green said forest negotiations had been driven with the government support by “moderate, mainstream groups” who recognise the need for compromise on both sides of the forestry conflict.
“The statement of principles and IGA processes are fundamentally about helping to restructure our forest industry and what it produces, so it can find new growing markets and have a secure, sustainable future,” he said.
“Future downstream processing opportunities – like a plantation-fed pulp mill – are a vital part of that secure, sustainable future.
“I don’t believe fringe lobby groups which blindly insist that no Tamar Valley pulp mill – no matter how clean, modern or plantation-based – can ever have a social licence, represent those moderate and mainstream views.”
