A response to Go back to the days of Electric Eric and The Emperor, says Howes and Is Tasmania a failed state … ?
Self-trained woodworker Pete Godfrey’s kitchen table
This is meant to be a discussion forum and there are many writers on the Times who have great ideas, so how about pooling them. With a lot of luck the right people can be found to move us from a Colonial Mining mentality to a vibrant place to live and work.
It is up to you folk to join in the discussion and see what ideas come up.
These are just a few ideas for starters. Let’s see whether there is a chance for our beautiful island into the future.
Let’s add some balance on the issues of what Tasmania could do, instead of going for big stupid environment destroying industries.
Let’s try a few.
1. Turn all agriculture in Tasmania into Organic farming methods. There is a huge and growing market in the world for organic food and we have the right conditions here to produce it. (We can send a delegation to Cuba if necessary to see how a whole country has managed to switch to Organic agriculture and the benefits it has received from the switch)
Just a few of the benefits are:
• Healthier population with less reliance on hospital care.
• Zero pesticide inputs mean cleaner water, air and soil.
• More jobs for locals working on farms.
• Better prices for our products.
• Less money spent on imported chemicals and fertilizers.
2. As we turn to organic food production and farming we will have pristine waterways with no chemical pollution, so we turn to selling water. Clean pesticide free water is in short supply in the world and will become even scarcer in years to come.
If you go into a shop to buy water you can pay up to $3.50 or more a litre. So we bottle Tasmanian Pure Rainwater and sell it to the highest bidder. No bloody pipelines selling it cheaply but selling to countries that really are short of water and want to pay for it.
3. Reinstate the Passenger Train service and add new lines in areas that are of interest to Tourists and Organic farm-stay tourists. Eg, a spur line to Cradle Mountain and from Lake St Clair to Hobart or the West Coast.
With 9000 a year walking the Overland Track and countless other people going to Cradle Mountain, the benefits of safe rail travel will be enormous. Small stops can be made at scenic places and local businesses will benefit as well as far less damage to the park and wildlife by cars.
4 Spend some money on the tourist side of our roads, by actually making pleasant stopping points at scenic lookouts. (very few of these exist).
5 Re Forestry: Turn from high quantity low value to “ Close to Nature Forestry” with FSC certification producing High Quality timbers. We have some very fine timbers in Tasmania, it is a resource that has been plundered, but with care and good management we could have a vibrant industry based on skilled workmanship and forest care. Workers in the industry will be able to feel proud that they are doing an important job caring for the present and future users of fine timbers.
6. Help companies and individuals to set up and produce fine high quality furniture from Tasmanian timbers. Tasmania has many fine woodworkers at the moment but there is room with good marketing to produce much more. We used to have manufacturers such as Coogans years ago, and we could have companies like that again. Rather than just small highly skilled craftsmen we could be a training centre for fine woodworkers. With the right marketing we could have a fine woodworking university attracting overseas students like the Maritime College does now.
7. Copy our Neighbours over the “ditch” and promote Tasmania as a tourist and organic food mecca. New Zealand has managed to out-market us at every turn, the big question is Why?. We have similar landscapes except Tasmania has much more natural forested areas than New Zealand. We have many beautiful places to see, but for some reason we don’t market ourselves.
Over to you …
Pete Godfrey is … (a bio is on its way).
And here ’tis: Grew up in Sydney and spend most of my younger days trying to find quiet places, messing around in boats and camping in Sydney Harbour on many weekends. Didn’t see much sense in what School was trying to shove into my mind so I left at year 10 and did an apprentiship as an Electrical Fitter. Worked in the trade in Sydney for 6 years while I saved enough to leave and move to the country. Went South to a little block of land and built a hand split slab hut that I lived in for 5 years. Ended up moving to Northern NSW where I ran into resourceful farmer types and made my own portable sawmill (based on their designs) to cut timber for my house. Worked cutting fence posts, as a labourer, milling timber and then back in my trade again. Moved on to work as a youth worker in a juvenile detention centre, before moving to Tasmania 11 years ago. Got a job here as a maintenance man in a sawmill, then when they found I could use computers I was dragged into the office to be an assistant manager. Office work was just not me so I got a job as a builder for 4 years until my boss retired. (reckon that is a mean way to get rid of a worker). Then back to my trade as an electrical contractor. Visited Tasmania 5 times before moving here, I loved the place at first sight and it was the best move of my life to come here to live.
