The Tasmanian Government wants a parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of a woodchip mill on the state’s east coast.
Millionaire environmentalists Graeme Wood and Jan Cameron bought the Triabunna mill three years ago.
The pair initially said they hoped to reopen it, but later unveiled plans for a tourism development.
A recent article in The Monthly magazine reported the mill manager, conservationist Alec Marr, as saying reopening was never on the cards.
The article said the plant’s infrastructure was destroyed in an undercover operation to quash any possibility the Labor-Greens state government at the time would compulsorily acquire the mill to reopen it.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier, Guy Barnett, said he would move to establish a parliamentary inquiry.
“What did the Labor-Green government know …
• Pete Godfrey, in Comments: What a bloody waste of money. The government expect a private owner to keep a rusting useless piece of junk standing, waiting for some mythical customer to come and want to reignite the wasteful woodchip industry in Tasmania. I thought the Liberals stood for private land rights, for allowing markets to decide which industries stand or fall. But of course not when one of their biggest political donors needs them. To expect the owners of the woodchip mill to abide by some agreement that they didn’t sign, and that the government wants to destroy is pretty rich. The Libs have to make up their minds, do they support free market, do they support the destruction of the forest agreement. Or do they support keeping the agreement in full and therefore the reservation of the other 400 thousand ha of land that was promised for reserves. Sorry young Will but you can’t have it both ways. I should have said sorry Eric as he obviously really runs the state Libs.
• Margaretta Pos, in Comments: I found it strange that media coverage of The Monthly’s article focussed on Mayor Cadart’s comment about bogans -http://oldtt.pixelkey.biz/index.php?/weblog/article/liberal-cadart-stands-firm-on-his-grand-vision/ – and ignored the serious revelations by Alec Marr that he organised a five-day wrecking spree within the Triabunna wood chip mill. It’s only now, when Guy Barnett appears to have read the whole article, and has called for an enquiry, that there is any media coverage of this incident. Shame on the media!
• John Hayward, in Comments: Has everyone forgotten the LibLab rumblings about a compulsory acquisition of the mill by the state gummint? About reopening it as another woodchip industry charity? And Margaretta Pos, what are the chances of the mainstream Tas media being shamed by anything? And what about the lack of coverage of the threats to revive an economic and environmental cancer in remission? You don’t see a story in that?
• Guy Barnett: Parliamentary Inquiry into Triabunna
• Peter Fagan, in Comments: Tasmania has been at war over forestry for over thirty years. People are reluctant to face up to this fact, but it literally was a war. Alec Marr believed he had won that war and did what a victor does, Victori spolia – to the victor go the spoils. But beyond what may strike some as triumphalism, keep in mind the positive plans of Alec and others for a re-purposing of the Triabunna woodchip mill site and consider Isaiah 2:4: “and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”
• Nick McKim: George Williams on anti-protest laws “These laws go far beyond what most people would regard as reasonable. There is a strong argument that they would catch farmers protesting on their own land against fracking, or a boat blockade against a supertrawler.” “They are unreasonable in the extreme. Mr Hodgman is trying to crack a walnut with a sledgehammer, and is looking more and more like a Tasmanian version of Joh Bjelke Peterson” “Professor Williams has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons today, and Mr Hodgman must now come clean on whether or not his government sought legal advice from the Solicitor General before these laws were tabled in the parliament.”
• Guy Barnett: Bryan Green needs to come clean on Triabunna Mill
• Cassy O’Connor, in Comments: Hi Pete, #15 … Not everyone who’ll be involved in this ridiculous reference to the Community Development Committee is a fool … I’m the lone Green. The Libs have got the numbers and Sir Guy is the Chair. We haven’t convened yet but expect to this week. I agree it’s intended as a witch hunt. Tories, we’re learning, are a vindictive lot. It’s also such an abuse of the Committee system of inquiry, in my view. Like Queenstown, Triabunna is bleeding. These communities actually need the best of us to come up with meaningful solutions. Not prance around pointing fingers …. If the Committee focused on the long term, and set out the foundations for robust, sustainable regional economies, we’d really be doing what we were elected to do.
