STATE: Pushing a destructive dig it up – chop it down economic vision for Tasmania

*Pic: The dig-it-up-chop-it-down mentality in full swing … Shree Minerals’ abandoned Nelson Bay river mine site, taken Aug 2014. Tom Ellison’s story here

There is a reason Doctors scrub up, dress up and glove on before performing surgery. It’s to prevent the spread of germs that may cause infection. You can’t be too careful even in an environment as clean as a hospital would be considered to be.

The same analogy could be applied to many other areas. For example there is a reason police checks are required before someone can work with children in schools, as child care workers or in youth work. It is to protect the child from potential harm.

With these analogies in mind I find it bemusing that a State Government intent on pushing a destructive dig it up – chop it down economic vision for Tasmania can be trusted to move in to World Heritage Areas for “Careful” development.

Can this Government be trusted to tread lightly in the areas they would see logged and mined as soon as the price of those commodities was sufficient to do so?

That is not to say I am entirely against careful development in some of these world heritage areas. Under the right direction – a direction of preservation, care and environmental stewardship some development in these areas could be of real benefit.

However, even development in these areas under a Government with an attitude more focused on sustainability than the current one, would still risk being left open for abuse under a future regime.

If only we could develop a single Environmental attitude that could be reflected through the full spectrum of Governing ideologies and we could have careful development in these areas.

*Eric Smith is President of the North West Environment Centre Inc. and Facilitator of Transition Burnie. He has an interest in Sustainable design and Permaculture systems. Eric is well known for his outspoken concerns on social and environmental issues effecting Tasmania.

• Stefan Stimson Taroona Primary School Association: Important Update Re NAPLAN 2015 at Taroona Primary School At last night’s Taroona Primary School Association meeting, the following motion was proposed and carried: “The TPSA encourage parents with children at Taroona Primary School to remove them from the 2015 NAPLAN testing in response to the Government’s unwillingness to negotiate in relation to the budget cuts” Why This Motion? This motion was proposed in direct response to the State Government’s public declarations that it will no longer negotiate with the state teachers/AEU, will not consider alternatives to axing 266 frontline staff and insists “the caravan has moved on”. We firmly believe that this is not the case and that the teachers/AEU want to continue negotiations and reach a settlement. Furthermore, this is what the parents of our school want as this is in the best interest of all state schools and all state school children.