After a brutal year of fire and flood, the tide has gracefully turned for the Tarkine as this noble land becomes cloaked in the subtleness of winter. Snow in its pure brilliance, falls almost to sea level over the vibrant greenery of Tasmania’s grandest rainforest.
In the grasp of nature’s finest expression, where time ceases, and softness blankets the terrain, this sublime vastness appears to drift into genial slumber.
For a world in need of wildness, the exquisite Takayna is a compelling poem.
Gracious and benign, its winter affair enlivens one of our island’s most treasured places.
A quintessence most worthy of cherishing!
Winter whispers across the Takayna forest,
Fluttering and falling like ephemeral stars.
In the quiet rapture of nature,
Thoughts come and go.
Heaven’s ambience enshrouds this earth.
Snow falls,
Nature listens.
Blow, blow, thou winter wind.
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude …..Shakespeare
Deep jungle greens fade into slumber
Ted Mead is a committed conservationist, naturalist, ardent photographer, and holistic nature lover. Disillusioned with conformist politics and its erroneous ideology regarding to the protection of our essential earth we dwell in, Ted now spends most of his time amidst the place he enjoys passionately – Out in the Wilds. Ted believes being immersed in nature is what keeps him sane, or questionably in the belief that he at least beholds a semblance of sanity.
• Dr Nicole Anderson in Comments: What graceful scenes, utterly gorgeous dusted rainforest. Thank you Ted. It was lovely to witness the snowfall clad areas where they were burnt. Almost like nature now soothing the wounds.
• Kevin Kiernan in Comments: Thanks for the pics Ted. Re your comment #13,it is indeed a sad fact that there is a cohort of Tasmanians who never seem to be able to rise beyond their internalised misery to see anything without bitterness. But don’t let it get to you Ted, though they are a bit sad. I am reminded of an episode a couple of years ago when the Mercury published an article about a young Tasmanian …
Dr Nicole Anderson
July 14, 2016 at 14:28
What graceful scenes, utterly gorgeous dusted rainforest. Thank you Ted. It was lovely to witness the snowfall clad areas where they were burnt. Almost like nature now soothing the wounds.
JDN
July 14, 2016 at 16:05
Beautiful photographs Ted.
Nothing like it on earth.
Pete Godfrey
July 14, 2016 at 19:55
Ted, I believe that you are sane, it is difficult though isn’t it. If what we see around us in normal society is sane then maybe that is not such a good measure to aim for. Hanging out in the forest and frequenting beautiful places is probably the most productive thing we can do.
Anything we can do to square up the wheels of industry is good in my books.
Don’t ever make the mistake of trying to be normal.
Jack Lumber
July 14, 2016 at 20:15
Lovely scenes
Equally lovely article in todays Oz 15-July re the grubby deal Dr Bob did with the ALP under Gillard re WHA listings
Impressed that the Greens are just as grubby as anyone else .
wonder what grubby deal will be proposed for the “Tarkine”
John Hawkins
July 14, 2016 at 21:55
Jack Lumber.
The real grubby deals are those stitched up between the Murdoch Press and the senior members of our political parties in order to gain the gold seal of a positive press during an election campaign.
Regarding Tasmania and its World Heritage Listed Forests nothing could be grubbier than the application by the Liberal Party to the United Nations to delist their protection of the Western Tiers.
This to facilitate the clear fell logging needed to fulfil unsustainable loss making contracts let by Forestry Tasmania to a corrupt Malaysian company.
Lumber do you comprehend the enormity of the corruption over both due process and a collusive press that allows a political party to even conceive such a disgraceful plan and even more so to put it into operation.
It is a reflection on us all that a Tasmanian Senator elected to look after the interests of all Tasmanian’s – inviolate as Number One on the Liberal Ticket – one Erich Abetz can exercise his personal control and power out of sheer hatred of the Greens to promote a disgraceful and disgusting concept.
Where have all the good men gone?
Gone to water everyone?
Ted Mead
July 14, 2016 at 22:04
#4 Jack
The only grubby deal that will be done with the Tarkine to get the area protected for posterity will be the $ millions payed out the multinational mining companies and TaAnn Ltd for a resource area that they don’t own.
Most of any wealth that has been sourced from the Tarkine has gone out of the state, very little royalties and payroll taxes are being passed back to Tasmania. And we dummies in this state will carry the tab for any rehabilitation works.
It’s always been about jobs in a marginal electorate at a huge taxpayers subsidy to supply the infrastructure and ongoing upgrades of the operations.
Time will tell, and that may not be that far away as the iron-ore price is still predicted to plummet to around $30 a tonne in trending future.
Nothing changes fast in a world dominated by plutocracy.
Carol Rea
July 15, 2016 at 06:55
#4 Jack well let’s just post the details ok.
The Australian’s ‘Environment editor’ Graham Lloyd, fresh from his recent tirades against Australian scientists’ claims that the Great Barrier Reef is being damaged by climate change, has today written about that fraction of Tasmania’s World Heritage value forests which has been protected (see above). Here are a few notes on Lloyd’s article:
Apparently oblivious of the Australian journalists’ code of ethics, Lloyd has not contacted me about the claims.
I have no objection to an FOI request for letters: I advocate FOI and think it should be extended to the private sector including News Corporation. Mr Lloyd has not published his secret view on this proposal.
Lloyd’s ‘brewing storm’ is in his own teacup. The pity is that, in the period leading up to the establishment of government in 2010, I and the Greens failed to move the Gillard government to fulfil its obvious obligation to have Tasmania’s forests nominated for the World Heritage status.
Apparently logging aficionado Andrew Denman, who also doesn’t contact me about this issue, is alarmed that the integrity of World Heritage has been undermined by a deal to have the nomination go forward. This is the same Andrew Denman who wants those forests and their wildlife not just undermined but open to destruction.
The question arises: where was Mr Denman in recent decades when millions of tonnes of specialty (rainforest) timbers were trashed and burned in the industrialised logging for eucalypt woodchips? It was the environment movement which tackled Labor and Liberal politicians about this obscene waste of the resource which he now bemoans is missing.
Mr Lloyd’s most devastating revelation is that ‘Dr Brown and former Greens leader Christine Milne have boasted publicly about using negotiations for minority government both in Tasmania and federally to boost environmental outcomes.’ I must call Christine to tell her he is on to us. I hope his enquiries don’t also uncover the fact that we achieved a world-leading carbon trading scheme and fund for renewable energy in conjunction with PM Gillard.
Unlike the agreements for government in Tasmania in 1989 and in Canberra in 2010 which we Greens insisted be made public, the current agreement between the Liberals and Nationals is one on the nation’s most outrageously kept secrets. There’s a document for Mr Lloyd to gainfully pursue.
Bob Brown http://www.bobbrown.org.au/bob_comments_wilderness_bargain_world_heritage
Jack lumber
July 15, 2016 at 12:34
Re 7
Thanks for posting a statement by dr bob and that will play out as it will . I would not call these facts in the same way we can’t call the report in the Australian facts .
So what have we learnt , well the Australian newspaper is not a good source of reporting on environmental issues ?
Or is it journos called Grahame are ifffy but maybe ones called “Mathew ” are OK ,?
abs
July 15, 2016 at 14:03
#8 Jack, remove the last 3 words from you middle sentence and I am in agreement 😉
Claire Gilmour
July 15, 2016 at 15:36
Perhaps Jack Lumber could do a FOI request from FT and ask how much of the Tarkine was burnt due to flare ups exacerbated by plantations?
Why don’t FT’s Murchison district office show what they are really doing in their current 3 year plans?
Jack lumber
July 15, 2016 at 16:45
Re 10
All questions you should direct to
the new minister
Or let me know how the FOI goes !!
Re 9 fair call
Claire Gilmour
July 15, 2016 at 17:30
Sorry guys, but as beautiful as the pics are, out here in the lowlands of the Tarkine edge, it’s still hell! No amount of snow or other dust cover can cover the reality of everyday life.
And that’s not just this year’s fire but from the fire in 2013. Dead burnt trees crashing constantly, hoping one doesn’t get crushed whilst hand sawing their way out.
Sometimes one wishes people could really live it, experience it, not just talk about it.
Perhaps one could turn it into a new tourism venture? … Instead of risking ones life bunging jumping one could pay to risk walking through burnt falling trees … courtesy of the Tasmanian government’s ineptness, Forestry Tasmania’s complicity and Federal government’s inaction on climate change.
Ted Mead
July 15, 2016 at 17:30
One of the great disappointments of Tas Times is that, here I have put together an apolitical article to present the natural treasures we have in Tasmania.
Unfortunately and Instantaneously the pro resource-extractive industry trolls come out and post irrelative statements as a means of tarnishing anything proactively positive.
TT will always suffer in quality when this baggage, and sometimes vitriolic trite is permitted to the forum.
I support opinionated related comments based on free speech and democracy, but we all know the trolls’ intent is to undermine progression and dampen the spirit of uplifting issues.
Trolls obviously live in a sad world and their negativity is indicative of where they are at in their personal development and inner happiness.
The trolls’ comments may be as ineffective as my words?, but my photos are far more compelling!!!!!!!
Persuasive images are something they can’t suppress or discredit …
Jack lumber
July 15, 2016 at 18:13
Re 5 Hawkins
Do I understand what has happened electorally in Tasmania ?
An emphatic NO .
Despite the efforts of Erica , we the people still had the means to make a statement by how we voted .
Do I think that many of the decisions regarding land and forest management and reservation are politically based …… Does Peter Whish Wilson make stupid statements to re army snipers ……is Erica a dinosaur …….all YES
So it is not corruption , it’s is the voice of the people , just as BREXIT and the soon to be had US elections
So Hawkins , I suspect we share a view on this matter specifically Erica but unlike you , I am not prone to dropping the “C” word
Karl Stevens
July 15, 2016 at 23:00
Ted Mead 13. Your experience has happened to other people as well. Most of us don’t understand why there are ‘protected trolls’ in Tasmanian media.
I have a theory or two. Anyway, I hope the charade ends one day because your cry is like a tree falling in the forest. Nobody hears it.
Maybe we should get a bit more hard-nosed about how this little island is run?
Some of these people really don’t need to be here because they don’t see the beauty in the Tarkine or anywhere else. Maybe they are psychopaths? There are a lot more psychopaths than people think.
Claire Gilmour
July 16, 2016 at 00:31
Who are you referring to Karl? You live near one of the most polluted rivers in Tasmania, the Tamar, (a river 4 generations of my family lived by and watched turn from pristine to fucked!) far, far away from the Tarkine.
Pretending a beauty point when one doesn’t live with the reality in the Tarkine is simply crap!
Of course there is still beauty in it, but there is also still horror … and don’t you forget it!
For to forget it is to forgive the transgressions … does that make me a so-called psychopath because I live with and see and speak the reality?
William Boeder
July 16, 2016 at 03:15
#15. To add to the matter Karl and in full rebuttal to the wants of the people to retain our natural forest wonders, there is no regulatory authority in this State, not even in the State’s Justice department that will uphold any of the wishes and wants (no matter how simple and logical) of the people of Tasmania, in my view.
One of the problems in this State may be its illiteracy rate, I mean all these persons who care not what harms this State government continually allows upon or approves toward our glorious forests from the unprincipled plans carried out by its evil agenda minister’s for the forests ultimate destruction.
Then that this number of illiterate persons wouldn’t care a nob of goat shit if the State was gifted to the Indonesian government.
I personally am unable to cope with the deplorable situation in Tasmania where its most loathed politico is held in reverence and respect by Tasmania’s feckless major media portals, this is despite the fact that this person is the most outright anti-the-Tasmanian scoundrel that has ever been identified, yet this person is able to retain his government office and continue to lord himself over the entire State.
If this is not a form of State government malfeasance how else can this be the outcome, so what else can it be- perhaps it is possible by way of electoral fraud, if not can it be that this matter is aided by a form of political conspiracy or of corrupt practices, if not any of these criminal actions how is it that the citizens of Tasmania must remain compliant to this person’s evil dread?
Please note that there is no interest shown or a position taken by this State’s Governor nor by our State’s Attorney General, how can this be?
Not only the entire of this State’s Lib/Lab political species but even the entire of the State’s bureaucracy seem to think it fine for the State government’s logging arm to continue to strip our forests bare of our Crown Land forests then peddle a major amount of this timber product to a corrupted offshore owned business operation.
How is it that this ridiculous logging situation is privileged to go on to routinely create its State revenue-loss situation.
The matters referred to in the above smell highly of some diabolical form of treason, if not treason what else would best describe the current state of affairs in Tasmania?
The people in Tasmania are restricted to be unable to have any say or influence in the affairs of the State of Tasmania, elsewise this above situation is set to absolutely continue the action of slaughter upon the rule and the law of ‘what we are told’ is our functioning democracy.
My personal view is that this is an outcome of a bastardised ignorant Liberal party government policy, of or for, the perpetual sufferance upon this State and upon its people.
Carol Rea
July 16, 2016 at 04:34
#13 ahhh Ted your article was shared on TWS Tas FB and Love the Tarkine FB. It reached over 2000 people. Thank you. Your images and writing continue to inform and uplift so many. Thank you
Jack Lumber
July 16, 2016 at 12:49
Re 17
William
I share your concerns re literacy
rates in Tasmania
It is something that must change
As to your ascertion to link
To awareness of nature …hmmm
Also why the reference to
Indonesia ?
Pete Godfrey
July 16, 2016 at 14:25
#13 Ted, there are plenty of people out here who love the pictures. Please don’t let a few trolls stop you from posting articles. I love seeing your stuff on the Tarkine. As I am sure do many others.
Trolls are consigned to living under bridges for a good reason, those who choose to live above ground and walk around with their eyes open are watching.
Karl Stevens
July 16, 2016 at 14:32
Claire Gilmour 16. My reference from Ted Mead was ‘pro resource-extractive industry trolls’.
Lyndall Rowley
July 16, 2016 at 15:21
Ted #13. I agree with your dismay about a simple apolitical article being used as an opportunity for troll-like behaviour by some others. In this case, a splendorous account of your winter-time Takayna visit is then turned into something ugly and political, and also used to attack on a personal level.
I applaud you for speaking out on this matter. Trolls or troll-like behaviour certainly affects the quality and direction of discussions and serves to spoil what would otherwise be a useful online community forum for feedback, opinions, ideas and sharing of information and images such as yours.
Might I suggest something to try? Perhaps we TTers could manage this ourselves collectively (rather than the ed). When a troll makes an inappropriate comment, then do not take the bait; do not engage. If someone behaves with troll-like comments such as routinely attacking the person rather than addressing the issue, then do not engage. Boycott them and their agendas; ignore them and send them to Coventry. They’ll soon starve from the lack of negative commentary that they elicit and seem to thrive upon, and go away. Then perhaps they’ll learn to treat people more respectfully if they want to be part of the discussion and return with more positive and constructive contributions.
Please keep doing what you are doing Ted and continue to share your experiences with all of us. Thanks!
Kevin Kiernan
July 16, 2016 at 15:31
Thanks for the pics Ted. Re your comment #13,it is indeed a sad fact that there is a cohort of Tasmanians who never seem to be able to rise beyond their internalised misery to see anything without bitterness. But don’t let it get to you Ted, though they are a bit sad. I am reminded of an episode a couple of years ago when the Mercury published an article about a young Tasmanian having been invited to join a select group of kayakers from around the world to compete in a grand prix in South America, and mentioned in that article that he earned his living each summer working as a guide on the Franklin River. The immediate response of one sad character was to immediately mis the point of the article and pen a letter to the Merc derisively claiming it was the first he had ever heard of anyone having earned a dollar from the decision not to dam the Franklin, and then using the article just as an excuse to launch into another tedious greenie bash. I felt quite sorry for the guy really, because if he couldn’t even recognise and maybe even celebrate the sporting achievement of a young Tasmanian because of the hate poisoning his soul, what must the rest of his life be like? Just ignore them Ted, its their problem. Besides, the doctors treating the ulcers gnawing away inside these sad creatures are probably at least earning part of their living from treating such miserable types. (Hey, maybe I should write a letter to the Merc: “Well, this is the first time I have ever heard of anyone getting any financial benefit from the existence of miserable bugger trolls in the Tasmanian commmunity etc…..”)
Claire Gilmour
July 17, 2016 at 19:04
I’m in agreement with Charles Wooley …
TasWeekend: Fighting for free speech – CHARLES WOOLEY, Mercury – July 17, 2016 12:00am
“I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it.†– Voltaire
DEMOCRACY is a tough creed. If we are serious about it, we must tolerate intolerance. We must allow free speech to those who would deny it. We must allow those who don’t approve of our way of life the right to say so, otherwise by not hearing from them we are living in a fool’s paradise. We must, within the rule of law, allow those who advocate a course of action with which we strongly disagree the right to have their say, even if we don’t like it. This is Democracy 101.
It is counter-intuitive but, in times perhaps bloodier than now, 18th-century French philosopher Voltaire spoke of “defending to the death†the right of his enemies to voice, what were, to him, unacceptable opinions.
Whether he actually spoke the above phrase commonly attributed to him is another matter.
Historians think his biographer, polishing it up a little for posterity, might have expressed the sentiment in the marvellously succinct form we all know.
While not as reasonable as Voltaire, I do expect some newspaper opinion pieces (including this one) to be annoying, especially when I disagree with them. It’s a natural tendency to consider your own opinion has more validity than one that runs contrary to it.
I try to keep that in check, so when I read Jen Brown’s opinion piece (Mercury, Friday, July 8) I didn’t presume to question her right to reveal how elated she was to deny her enemies their right of free speech. If you missed it, Brown, the former Greens candidate for Denison, was clearly not in step with Voltaire when she wrote with pride of closing down Pauline Hanson’s One Nation launch in Hobart in 1997.
With 3000 protesters chanting in unison, “Migrants are welcome, racists are not, hey, hey, ho hoâ€, Brown reminisces how they “swamped the town hall with their chantâ€.
“Pauline and her few supporters were forced to abandon it,†she said.
Hooray. What a victory for democracy. One bunch of political loony tunes turfs another out of a town hall with strident voices and superior numbers. Anyone who thinks that is a good thing should read inter-war German history. I’m sure Brown hasn’t thought this through, nor seen the consequences of intolerance as I have in a travelling life in journalism. But just applying a little rationality here, I am sure she meant no harm. It’s probably only me but I get nasty intimations of the green shirts versus the brown shirts.
The Nazi brown-shirt strategy up until 1933 was to howl down opposition meetings. After that, they started bashing and killing. I know the green shirts would want none of that. The Greens are a party of decency and humanity, and someone with a little Voltaire in them should gently counsel Brown. Again, to be fair, she wasn’t the only candidate in this past election campaign who was not entirely clear about the meaning of democracy.
Cont…
Claire Gilmour
July 17, 2016 at 19:06
Cont…
Still, I’m always happy to see any revealing moments of candour. In fact, when it comes to intolerance in our democracy, I would prefer to see prejudice out in the open rather than festering in the unspoken darkness.
If the Grand Mufti is allowed to spout his religious intolerance and homophobic hatred, at least we know what he is really thinking.
Likewise, I would rather Hanson’s unpleasant views were aired as loudly as possible rather than hidden from punters naive enough to vote for One Nation. And in that ecumenical spirit I am glad Brown was allowed to express her true feelings in this newspaper, which also publishes my contrary views.
I’m a swinging voter. I have voted Green more than once and might be disposed to do so again, but certainly not for Brown now that she has revealed her contempt for the democratic rights of people with whom she doesn’t agree. I, too, have no time for Hanson’s views, but I have enormous tolerance of her right to peacefully express them in a small meeting in the Hobart Town Hall in 1997.
Ironically, I still defend Brown’s right to declare her disrespect for the democratic rights of those she opposes in the pages of this newspaper. If all politicians told us so clearly what they really think, voting would be a lot easier and we mightn’t have ended up with such an uncertain outcome.
On 60 Minutes last week, I perhaps too casually referred to Pauline Hanson in terms “the redhead is backâ€. You wouldn’t think her supporters would have been champions of political correctness, but they descended on me in social-media frenzy. I had shown “contempt for an elected representative†and the “usual conservative media bias against Paulineâ€, and, worse, “showed disrespect for redheadsâ€. In the name of Voltaire I meant no insolence. My heritage is Scottish and whenever a redhead is born we celebrate. The spirit of freedom and rebellion lives on, even if the kid might have a tough time at school.
Hopefully those Hansonite critics might note I have defended their champion’s right to pronounce views, which are disagreeable but which have an inalienable right to be heard.
Serious discourse (as opposed to merely shouting down the opposing side) was never for the faint-hearted.
We need to hear from the other side, and they from us. It’s called diplomacy. It is the opposite of open warfare. In a world where deep offence is so easily taken, everyone just needs to harden up a bit.
As I said at the beginning, democracy is a tough creed.
No wonder Voltaire reputedly drank up to 70 cups of coffee a day.
Claire Gilmour
July 17, 2016 at 20:09
It’s beyond political … it’s for life on earth saving …
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-15/global-biodiversity-falls-below-'safe-levels'/7629146
Edmond Harshaw
August 23, 2016 at 15:12
The Tasmanian government defines the Tarkine as an “unbounded locality” centred in the Waratah-Wynyard council area. The Tarkine contains extensive high-quality wilderness as well as extensive, largely undisturbed tracts of cool temperate rainforest which are extremely rare.
William Boeder
August 23, 2016 at 17:22
The State of Tasmania is being governed by a Kleptocracy, there is no demonstrable facility or document that allows an interest to be expressed toward the failing aspects of this State government.
The failure of this State government to provide a facility or a document to convey the expressed serious concerns toward the actions and events that include this State’s government claims held to be repugnant, illegal, cost deficient, dictatorial in its presented form, then that the non-democratic processes of this State government are a blatant betrayal upon the people of Tasmania.
Furthermore the devious process of approving the publication and or distribution (via the State’s news media platforms toward information that is in fact misleading and or dubious in its expressed form, is in my opinion a criminal action and in some particularly sensitive issues and instances, is a breach of this State’s Constitution.
For example the simple reference provided to improperly describe the Tarkine area of Tasmania is a contempt that is being displayed toward the people of Tasmania. I now quote the reference to the description of the Tarkine as presented in the comment of Edmond Harshaw in the above. (Thank you Edmond.)
The Tarkine has a far greater significance to the State’s people than provided by The Tasmanian government, which defines the Tarkine as an “unbounded locality†centred in the Waratah-Wynyard council area. The Tarkine contains extensive high-quality wilderness as well as extensive, largely undisturbed tracts of cool temperate rainforest which are extremely rare.
Given the very nature of our ecological significant Tarkine this State government will at any given time allow portions of this sanctified region to be clear-felled to suit the simple whims of government ministers, yet not at any time sought to have engage in consultation with the people of Tasmania.
The term Kleptocracy is fully applicable to the carriage of the current anti-the-people government processes in Tasmania.
Thus there is no democratic process shown or even permitted to be shown in this State.
Let this State government be aware of their failures and false purposes, I would argue that the State Governor is a culpable party to the constitutional ruling that will not permit this failing government of Tasmania to continue to ignore their constitutional obligations nor their services and duty thereto.