Nothing more than a one-sided comparison of various chunky gifts to the porcelain gods

Comment first made on this article here: All our staff acted in a lawful and professional manner, July 16, 2014

The Monthly magazine article that has Paul Harriss and Guy Barnett livid with rage at the ‘sickening’ activities of radical greenies and the unconscionable apparent complicity of the previous Labor/Greens government was published this month (July 2014). The activities at the Triabunna Mill to which it refers took place in late September 2013, almost nine months ago.

The author of the article, John van Tiggelen, took part in said vomit-inducing activities, but seems to have taken an inordinately long time – in journalistic terms – to write it up. Either that, or the editors at the Monthly have been sitting on it for all these months.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but Tasmania is a place where the usual six degrees of separation in the population are more generally like one or two degrees, particularly in the political sphere. Everybody either knows everyone else’s business, or knows someone who does.

So, if the Labor/Greens pollies knew about the job being done on the mill by Alec Marr and his finger-down-your-throat comrades, it’s a fair bet that the Libs knew as well.

A few questions need to be asked. First, why has the article appeared when it’s way past time that anything sensible can be done about what happened? Triabunna Investments issued a statement last week saying they were acting to decommission the mill infrastructure according to the requirements of the EPA notice regulating their activities on the site. Further, they are the legal freehold owners of the site. Neither of these facts has been challenged by Mr Barnett, but it appears that he is persisting with a parliamentary inquiry into the activities at Triabunna Mill documented by the Monthly.

Second, what is the purpose of this inquiry? There is no political capital to be gained – it could have been an election issue, but the election has already been won by the Liberals. Compulsory acquisition of the site and a return to full woodchiping function would be a lengthy and very expensive process, and the township of Triabunna would likely slide into oblivion waiting for it to happen.

Mr Barnett, this inquiry will make you look a fool. It is so obviously a needless political point-scoring exercise, that I doubt even the good folk of Triabunna can see a reason for it.

Further, the resolution of the House of Assembly, dated 26 June 2014, that established the House Standing Committee on Community Development lists the scope of the committee as follows:

‘(i) aboriginal affairs;
(ii) arts;
(iii) corrections;
(iv) health;
(v) human services;
(vi) justice;
(vii) police and emergency management;
(viii) racing;
(ix) sport and recreation; and
(x) women ‘

How, exactly, does an inquiry into the dismantling of the Triabunna Mill fit within those areas of scope of the committee?

Plus, if you persist, you may be giving a public voice to the very greenies whose actions have you downloading your lunch every time you think of them (are you and Paul having secret chunder parties??). You may not be able to escape calling Graeme Wood and Alec Marr to give evidence. Mr Marr, particularly, is not known for his reticence but without him and his cohorts, your committee will be left with nothing more than a one-sided comparison of various chunky gifts to the porcelain gods.

• Tim Thorne, in Comments: Meanwhile, I, too, await with fascination the answer to Barbara Mitchell’s question about which category of the committee’s scope justifies the inquiry.