Economy
The last time the word Fascist was used. COAG’s ‘black day for the environment’
The last time the word ‘Fascist’ was used in relation to Tasmanian politics, it came out of the mouth of then-Premier Jim Bacon, when he decried The Island’s artists for daring to question Forestry Tasmania’s sponsorship of Ten Days on the Island; he used the term ‘cultural Fascists’ and I believe the epithet was traced back to Nazi Germany.
The front page of today’s Examiner carries the story that Will Hodgman will, if elected early next year, impose mandatory jail terms and heavy fines upon protesters who “invade a business” for the purposes of doing so ( Protest laws under attack ).
I couldn’t get onto Facebook quick enough to call him a Fascist. It is appalling to think that the Liberal Party consider this to be answer to a question that potentially no longer exists. Didn’t the “Forest Peace Process” sort all that horrid to-do in the forests out? Or could it be—wait for it—that the “Peace Process” was a bit of a sham? No. Can’t be right. Surely.
Hodgman’s intellectual masterstroke has a precedent though. The infamous Wild West bail condition was imposed on conservationists arrested during the Franklin Dam Blockade, which prohibited them (if they agreed) from entering the West Coast in a somewhat ham-fisted (and possibly illegal) attempt to prevent them from rejoining the Blockade. No protester worth his salt, of course, accepted such a condition.
But Hodgman has ominously raised the stakes, and again one has to ask—why? You’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s purely to appease The Big End of Town, but even that is an unsatisfactory motivation. Hodgman’s threats are an attempt by him to convince someone that he is Premier material, that he can Make and Sell The Tough Decisions. It is an attempt to win over the hearts and minds of Tasmanians who might be thinking that a change is in order at the next state election.
The problem is that hardline policies like this one make him sound like a bully. Protesting, regardless of the issue at hand, is essential in a healthy democracy. Attempts to undermine it with such punitive measures are cruel and potentially pointless, and they seem to reflect a totalitarian ideology that has no place on The Island. People need to be the change they wish to see in the world—it really is that simple.
Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition should reflect on the fact that, in the end, the Gordon below Franklin Dam was not built, thanks largely to the will of the people; and that those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it, as a famous dead person once said.
Perhaps he still needs more time in Opposition to reflect on these and other issues.
• Jenny Weber: Tasmanian Liberals plan to demolish democratic freedoms of all citizens
• Hodgman on slippery-slope with protest ban: Environment Tasmania
• Mansell accuses Liberals of denying free speech
• New Protest group: Grandparents Against the Pulp Mill
• Nick McKim: Abetz law proposal designed to reopen forest conflict
• Examiner: Lara keeping faith in pulp mill project
• Guy Barnett: Greens’ “Fearless Summer” forest protest campaign another reason to support Libs
• Willy … and the Pulp Factory
• Christine Milne: Senate rejects Abbott’s World Heritage wrecking ball
• John Day, in Comments: I agree with all of the comments to date particularly #7. All of the politicians that speak regularly in the media – without thinking, cause more division in the community and cause even more people to disregard politics and democracy. The more these pollies talk the more the people turn off, especially the younger people.
• Conservationists halt logging in threatened species habitat
• TFGA says private plantation resource key to Tasmania’s future
• Kim Booth: Plantation report a hoax on investors
• Larissa Waters: Black day for the environment …
• Cassy O’Connor: Derwent River on the mend
• Abby Gee, Care2.com: More than 50k Urge Australian Government to Maintain UNESCO World Heritage Listing for Tasmania’s Old Growth Forests “World heritage sites such as these Tasmanian forests are places that belong to everyone (not corporations), irrespective of where they are located. They have universal value that transcends the value they hold for a particular nation. No matter your political views, these forests need to be protected and defended vigorously. My hope is this petition will provide clear evidence of how many citizens internationally and locally are horrified by this proposed reduction to these few remaining old growth forests.”
• Karen Enkelaar, in Comments: Hodgman, ditto, Colbeck, Abetz, Abbott, etc., don’t have a peaceful, co-operative bone in their bodies. Wanting to fine people? Lock them up? Sue them for questioning corporate ethics? On ya, fellas! By these actions you are proving yourselves to be the antithesis of good leadership. The world has changed and moved on, do you hear? Step aside and take with you your crippling war rhetoric that only forces us to be a continued embarrassment on the world stage. Let others get on with trying to make Tasmania an exemplar state, where everything is valued, and nothing is wasted.