Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Interview with Joe Gambles.

From ABC northern tasmania's drive program here

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

A just decision - Premiership medals for players from both Grand Final games

Read more including updates on injured saints ruck Michael Gardiner on the AFL website Here

Cancellara sees Porte as a threat in world championship time trial

here

Gunns woodchip price cut costing Tasmanian jobs.

....................."Larry Jarman who runs a sawmill near Launceston has agreed to continue supplying Gunns but the move will shave $800,000 a year off his income.He says he will have to sack staff later this week" ..............

Read more on ABC online here

Monday, September 27, 2010

Forestry Tasmania's taxpayer funded logging propaganda TV show invites your suggestions for new series.

Get on the website, have your say www.goingbush.tv/ and see if  FT put it to air. You pay for it
If you do submit questions to the show also send a copy (I wont publish anonymous or defamatory questions) to me and i will log them here on this post for the public to view. We can then see if FT are true to their word and give your concerns a hearing or not.

I submitted this question today..

..."I would like a program devoted to giving FT's critics a say. Pete Godfrey, Ian Johnston, Frank Strie, Dr Frank Nicklasson, Richard Flanagan etc. Rather than hiding it, I would also like to see the show be more representative of Forestry Tasmania's core business which is woodchipping and I would also like the negative side of clearfell forestry presented"...

Rick Pilkington, Gravelly Beach, Tas

Walton smashes comeback win

Read more Here and heresky

Gunns Capitulates to Misinformation and Bullying. Article in Online Opinion by Mark Poynter.

Mark, even Gunns PR firm could not successfully pitch to the Tasmanian public the notion that Australia's biggest, meanest logging company is the victim of a bullying community.
This is a preposterous and unbelievable argument.
The notion that big logging, oil, heavy industrial companies are victims of bullying communities and green groups wont wash anywhere in the world.
Mark, the argument that the Tasmanian logging industries woes are "the greenies fault" has been done to death over the years and today has less traction, less credibility than ever before.
Your article also completely ignores issues of poor governance, community relations, business and forward planning. Nice try Mark but i think you are pissing into the wind on this one mate.

p.s Mark, unlike other local internet media I wont take the attitude that because you are pro-forestry you photo should be splashed all over my blog. Its true that the other site that publishes your work will never  publish photos of its pet local lefty writers, particularly the ones from up my way in the Launceston, Tamar Valley area. This is just another form of the editorial bias i have been complaining about. There are many subtle ways that editors show their bias and use retribution against critics and contributors who dont conform. Its not rocket science. More about that on another day.
Even so my site does not attract vigilante's.
But if you do want a debate on my blog, i can promise that you will get a vigorous and robust deabte but you will not be subject to the retributive and dog whistle editing techniques that are employed on that other site.
regards
pilko
Read more in Online Opinion

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Lenny Hayes's heroics to win Norm Smith Medal prove critics wrong....Video of Brendon Goddard's Mark

More egg on the face for All Australian selectors.

The man who finished 8th in the Brownlow, won the Norm Smith medal and along with B.J Goddard dragged the saints back from the brink in yesterdays Grand Final was not selected in this years All Australian team.

Read more in the herald sun

Goddard Mark Here

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Grand Final draw

Proud of yooz saints. Read more Here

Dandy Warhols in Oz. Hobart September 30 at the Casino

See more Here

Check out some Dandy's music heresky

Friday, September 24, 2010

Porte must stay with Saxo Bank, Riis declares - From Cyclingnews

 Back off Bjarne. Portey has given his heart and soul for Saxo and you will get never get a more loyal and decent bloke riding for you.

Read more Here

Strike 2 for Tasmanian Government education policy. Case that Bartlett is stumbling block to community conscious policy mounts.

Premier Bartlett might have saved a lot of people a lot of pain and heartache if he had listened and backed down on Tasmania Tomorrow a year or two ago.
Read more here
With Julia Gillard set to intervene and save Tasmania further international embarrassment over the Brighton Bypass, next stop will be overturning the Bartlett Government's reckless and debauched fast track pulp mill assessment legislation.
When you want to let a logging company build the states largest ever project and replace a legal expert planning process with a political process people notice - and they dont forget.

The Tamar Valley Pulp Mill remains the untreated abcess on the face of Tasmania.

Race Schedule for 2010 UCI World Road Cycling Champs. All races televised line on ONE HD

Race Schedule for 2010 UCI World Road Cycling Champs starting Geelong, Australia, Wednesday 29 September.
All races televised line on ONE HD.

Under 23 Men  ITT Sep 29 - 31.8 km

Elite Women     ITT Sep 29 - 22.9 km

Elite Men          ITT Sep 30 -  45.8 km

Under 23 Men road race Oct 1 - 159 km

Elite Women road race   Oct 2   -127.2 km

Elite Men road race        Oct 3    -  262.7 km

You wouldn’t miss a St Kilda Grand Final for quids! by Kevin Rennie

From Red Bluff Blogspot

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Saints line up for 2010 Grand Final.

St Kilda's official squad for Saturdays' Grand Final.

B: Jason Gram, Zac Dawson, Sam Gilbert
HB: Jason Blake, Sam Fisher, Robert Eddy
C: Brendon Goddard, Nick Dal Santo, Farren Ray
HF: Brett Peake, Justin Koschitzke, Leigh Montagna
F: Adam Schneider, Nick Riewoldt, Stephen Milne
Foll: Michael Gardiner, Lenny Hayes, Clinton Jones
I/C: Sean Dempster, Andrew McQualter, James Gwilt, Steven Baker
Emg: Jarryn Geary, Ben McEvoy, Rhys Stanley
In: Baker
Out: Ben McEvoy

Where's the Collingwood line up, i hear you ask?

Are you kidding me?

Launceston pro cyclist Ritchie Porte considering future options

Read more on cyclingnews.com

Federal bypasse intervention set to land egg on the face of the "worst Premier since Robin Gray"

Recently Michael Mansell told ABC's stateline  Premier Bartlett was "the worst Premier we've dealt with since Robin Gray".
Now it looks as if Julia Gillard is set to vindicate Michael Mansell by intervening to stop Tasmania's barbarian government  trashing a 40,000yr old legacy and what remains of its relationship with Tasmanian Aboringines. Read more in the Mercury and from ABC's stateline below......

............

LUCY SHANNON: He has some powerful allies. Realigning the Brighton Bypass to protect the site was on Andrew Wilkie's wishlist that he took to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
MICHAEL MANSELL: The move of public opinion together with the stronger possibility of federal intervention gives us more hope than we had 12 months ago.
LUCY SHANNON: For Mr Mansell, the Premier, David Bartlett's approach to the Brighton issue is typical of his overall attitude towards Aborigines.
MICHAEL MANSELL: David Bartlett's promised us a lot when we met with him a month or so after he got elected. He's delivered absolutely nothing and shown no interest. His aggressive attitude towards Aboriginal people makes him the worst Premier we've dealt with since Robin Gray.
LUCY SHANNON: Previous premiers have overseen the return of land to the Aboriginal community as well as providing groundbreaking compensation for the stolen generations.
MICHAEL MANSELL: Well he Labor Cabinet promised us Rocky cape and Mt William in 2003, I think it was. Where is it? We still haven't seen it.
LUCY SHANNON: He says in 2010 reconciliation is at a standstill.
MICHAEL MANSELL: David Bartlett killed it.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

I'd like to dedicate this song.......

............by one of my favourite bands, singing one of favourite songs......

Kick back, enjoy and Dont Follow

Feeling kicked around. The beauty of grey. A beautiful day in the Tamar Valley.

Felt a bit kicked around today.
Today i  was accused of  - not being genuine in my committment to an important local environmental campaign i have devoted myself to for 4 years, of 'being in need of help',  irrational,  having a massive ego,  being an embarrassment to organisations i associate with,  of doctoring letters to my blog,  being responsible for wrecking someones political career (wow i didnt realise how powerful i was!), causing "the logging industry to get a bit more control of local government in Tasmania"  and i was also  invited to 'stay away' from the Tasmanian Times website.  
And thats just for starters.
Why?
Because i had the audacity to stray from the group think and turn my pen on the self proclaimed champions of peace, love, free speech and democracy in Tasmania's environmental indy media.
The slings and arrows have only served to prove the point i make that there is no difference between the rabid left and rabid right.
I have read articles on the Tasmanian Times that rage about how caucus conformity and group think, a entrenched feature of life in the big political parties which has indeed failed the communities they are elected to serve.
Yet i see exactly the same thing on the Tasmanian Times website - the go to forum for Tasmania's most opinionated greenies and lefties.
To many of Tas Times patrons there are no shades of grey.
You are either pro forestry or anti forestry.
If you are anti forestry then you must be seen to conform with the dominant discourse on the site, you must always support and never be see opposing other anti- forestry folk. You dont agree with, meet or negotiate with pro forestry folk who. Them bad. Us good.
If you stray from those unwritten rules you are reigned in and treated with suspicion or even a heretic.
Sounds like a fundamentalist religous organisation doesnt it.
Not a healthy environment for the fostering and nurturing of independent, free thought.
Grey is indeed a beautiful colour.
It is healthy for protaganists to agree on one issue and then on another day disagree on another issue  - and be seen to do so.
The deep greens in the church of the Tasmanian Times demand (and rightly so) that our politicians think for themselves, express themsleves honestly and according to their own consciences rather than being bound by party policy and the fear of being ostracised that goes with departing from the party line.
Yet the irony that is lost on the deep greenies is that they appear just as bound up by group think and the peer pressure to conform with the dominant discourse.
Having shades of grey, areas of uncertainty in your political and philosophical views is essential for those who aspire to be free and independent thinkers.
......................................

On more pleasant matters. Isnt the weather just great at the moment?
Managed 45km ride out through flowery gully and exeter today. Hardly a breath of wind and just perfect for cycling. I'm still avoiding going over the flowery gully hills through to beacy. Not to self;  - ride up the hill.
I'm really looking forward to ramping up the fitness and getting back into some racing again over summer and into next year. As soon as the river and Lake Trevallyn warms up i will take the plunge.
Hoping to get down to the East Coast next week.
ciao

Craig Walton to start comeback this sunday (26th) with Kingscliff Olympic distance race.

..."Walton, who now lives on the Gold Coast, is the only man to have won the Noosa event six times, and is now eight weeks into his comeback for the event.  The Sydney Olympian is looking to gain his 7th Noosa Triathlon title and see’s the PureSport Kingscliff Triathlon as a good lead in event.  There is some high-quality competition in the Open division, which will make for a great spectator day out with the athletes giving it their best on the shores of Kingscliff".......

Read more here

Monday, September 20, 2010

Judd wins brownlow. All Australian selectors left with egg on face

Chris Judd who only made it to this years All Australian AFL team interchange bench easily won his second brownlow for his second club.
Judd gave a good speech describing football as an indulgence, a make believe world and put his win in perspective paying tribute to Jim Stynes and what Judd described as the real hero's of Australian society.

Garry Ablett was 2nd and favourite Dane Swan 3rd. Scott Pendlebury who also just snuck onto the All Aus. team bench was 4th. Matt Boyd 6th and Saint Lenny Hayes 8th were also not selected in the All Aus. team.

Be very afraid. New Labor candidate for Tasmanian upper house seat cites Gunns Pulp Mill as example of Labor's "progressive politics". Bartlett and Brian Green push pro-pulp mill mate for Upper House Seat.

Its would seem that our Premier wants all other Tasmanian politicians except him and the labor mates to embrace the Labor/Green accord's "new politics" (whatever that means).
Bartlett has accused Murchison independent MLC Ruth Forrest of being a "closet liberal".
Forrest has emphatically denied any links with the Libs.
See ABC online piece below.
......................
David Bartlett has put up Waratah-Wynyard Mayor Kevin Hyland to stand against Murchison independent MLC Ruth Forrest in the upcoming election for her seat.
Hyland admits he's only just joined the Labor party.
When asked today by the ABC's  Drive programme presenter Roisin Mcann's what he liked about the Labor party, Hyland told her Labor were a "progressive party who want to see things happen" and cited the Gunns pulp mill as example of how Bartlett Labor "get things done". Hyland lauded the Bartlett government's efforts to "push to get that (the pulp mill) happening, and its sort of gone from there, yeah so i've sorta, you know followed that with what Brian Green has done in this area....they've (Labor) just struck me as, you know, gettin on with the job and I'm sorta a bit that line myself".

Oh dear.

I'm sure Premier Bartlett would be grateful that Mcann did not ask Hyland to elaborate on some of Labor's parties contribution to the furthering of democracy and ethics in Tasmanian politics and the role the "progressive" pulp mill has played.

The Tasmanian Times website first predicted Labor were set to go after Murchison independent Ruth Forrest who is one of the few true independents in a Tasmanian upper house.
Indeed there are a host of politicians that whilst describing themsleves as independent are consistently loyal to Tasmania's most powerful bound and well connected politicians and big business. Indeed, it was said of  former Launceston Mayor & windemere MLC Ivan Dean during the upper house's deliberations of the Labor Government's fast track Gunns pulp mill bill that the only thing Dean was independent of was his constituents!
....................................
From ABC online

Murchison MLC lashes out

Ruth Forrest Independent MLC for Murchison says she has never considered joining the Liberal Party. The Independent member for Murchison, Ruth Forrest, has hit back at insinuations she is a closet Liberal. Waratah-Wynyard mayor Kevin Hyland will run for Labor in upper house seat next year. David Bartlett has questioned whether the reason the Liberals have chosen not to run a candidate in Murchison is because they have a closet Liberal in Ms Forrest.
The Independent MLC has rejected the accusation.
"I've never been approached by the Liberal Party to be a member, I've never considered joining the party, and I certainly intend to maintain my independence," she said.

Whose afraid of the big bad Gunn?

The Mercury is today Here reporting Forest Industries CEO calling Gunns "bull-headed and arrogant".

FIAT's stinging criticism of it former wealthy patron are a continuation in a recent series of verbal attacks on Gunns since the big logger decided not to withdraw its membership and funding from FIAT.

Is this sour grapes or just that FIAT feel they now can say what they really think about Gunns without fear of losing funding? As yoda would say, Hmmmm.

Its no secret in Tasmanian society that Gunns have been demonstrably successfully in using fear as a tool to control and maintain its business interests in Tasmania.

Again from the same article in the Mercury ..............."Of the 21 native timber sawmills located in small rural communities, 10 are in southern Tasmania and supply Triabunna. A Timber Communities Australia spokesman said this would leave sawmillers with a loss of income which would ultimately result in job cuts".

And the Timber Communities Australia spokesman is.................?????? Who?

The article never tells us. Why?
Presumably for the same reasons that for so many years FIAT seemed to be reluctant to offer up the public criticism that we now see in the press every other day.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Waldo is back!

..............."At his best, Walton had a fearsome swim-bike combination in Olympic-distance races that would give him an unbeatable lead for the run.

"We all love winning and that never leaves you," he said.
"In some ways, I miss racing a little bit - I suppose I always felt I was cut short a little bit on my career.
"I just wanted to have one last crack at it and see what happens, see if I still have what it takes."
Rather than ease himself back into training, Walton went at it hard.
Once he made it through the first few weeks of maximum pain for minimal reward, Walton was buoyed by considerable improvement in his training efforts.
"I jumped in the deep end and absolutely gave it to myself from day one - luckily enough I've gotten through that real bad phase where you feel bad," he said.
"The last four weeks, I've really hit my straps and the indicators in all my time trials, the things that give me confidence, are basically back to where I was when I left off in the sport, if not better, especially on the bike."....

......Read more Here

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Prisoner Of War - Part One

A must watch episode from ABC's Australian Story programme Here

From the Aus. Story website.......
.............."Michael Ware's fearless reporting from the world's deadliest war zones has made him a star on US television.

He's a regular on the big American talk shows, but his jaw dropping exploits are little known at home.
Working in Afghanistan and Iraq for Time Magazine and then CNN, Michael Ware willingly went where no other reporter could or would.
Seemingly 'addicted to danger', he was kidnapped three times and was only seconds away from being executed in the street by Al Qaeda.
Now he's back home in Brisbane, to reunite with his young son, and finally confront his personal demons.
In this compelling two part program, he tells his own story for the first time"...

The death of Forestry Tasmania by John Lawrence. Published on the Tasmanian Times 14/09/10

"If Forestry Tasmania was a private company it would now be in the hands of an Administrator.

The recently released financial accounts for the 2009/10 year paint a bleak picture".

read more below


http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/article/the-death-of-forestry-tasmania/

Monday, September 13, 2010

Grab a drink, a ciggy, sit back and read one of the best sprays i have ever seen in Parliament. Liberal Lyons Logging relic Mark Shelton gets his pants pulled down by Greens Kim Booth. Pure Gold

Mr SHELTON (Lyons - Motion) - Mr Deputy Speaker, I move -

That the House:
(1) Notes the Final Negotiating Draft from the forestry talks which, if implemented, would lock up 600 000 hectares of Tasmanian forest and cost more than 3 500 Tasmanian forestry jobs.
(2) Opposes the Statement of Principles as outlined in that document.
(3) Expresses its support for the proposed Bell Bay pulp mill.

A strong and viable forest industry is crucial to the State. According to various estimates it supports somewhere between 6 000 and 10 000 direct and indirect jobs.

Mr Booth - The only job you've ever worried about is yours by using forestry as a political wedge.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - Order
Mr SHELTON - If I have ever heard a hypocritical statement, that is it. As some people may know, I have been a motor mechanic and a motor mechanic teacher at the TAFE college and I know how important the indirect jobs are from the forest industry. The forest industry supports not only the trades, but also numerous regional communities from Geeveston to Smithton, Branxholm to Triabunna, Lilydale to Mole Creek.
I live at Bracknell and the Bracknell-Liffey area has also been a strong supporter and provider of forest industry jobs. A number of people I know work in that industry. Whilst the Greens promote their side of the argument - and that is okay; we live in a democracy - I represent the people of Lyons in this House.
Ms O'Connor - If you were genuinely concerned for their welfare you would support reform of this industry instead of sticking your head in the sand.
Mr SHELTON - The industry is very important to the whole State and supports somewhere between 6 000 and 10 000 jobs.
Mr Booth - Oh, rubbish.
Mr SHELTON - A strong and viable forest industry is absolutely crucial to the State. If we look at the history of the forest industry, and go back a couple of hundred years when there was no machinery, our forebears cleaned out the best of the forests, took what they needed but left the rest. In the mid-1900s we saw the first holistic operation happening within the forests where they had their milling industry. The Burnie pulp mill started up and used some of the so-called reject timber to go through a pulp mill.
There is only one side of politics that has consistently supported the forest industry and forest industry jobs in Tasmania and that is the Liberal Party. The Greens have made a career out of attacking the forest industry and destroying Tasmanian forest industry jobs. We all remember Mr McKim's predecessor, as Leader of the Tasmanian Greens, Ms Putt, personally travelled to Japan to poison the Tasmanian markets, thereby in large part causing many of the problems facing the Tasmanian forest industry today. Mr Green is not here but I am sure if he were he would agree with those sentiments.
Members interjecting.
Mr SHELTON - As for the ALP, while they pretend to be the forest industry's friend, history shows that they are not. In 1989 they sold out forest industries to the Greens in order to form the Labor-Green accord. They sold it out again in 2004 when Mark Latham wanted to close down the industry for Greens' preferences. Here we are again in 2010, groundhog day, with Labor standing idly by while big business and big conservation team up again to close down our forest industry. As in 1989 and 2004, Labor is beholden to the Greens, so they will not speak out against the deal. Mr Bartlett would not last week in Parliament and today Mr Green, the forests minister, refused to speak out against the deal.
Unlike Labor, we on this side will stand up for forest jobs. We will stand up for regional Tasmanian communities and that is why we oppose the statement of principles from the forest talks as proposed. The simple fact is that ending logging in all public native forests within three months, as proposed in the final negotiating draft by the forestry round table, means the end of Tasmania's veneer sawmilling and specialty timber industries.
Mr Booth - Rubbish.
Ms O'Connor - Mr Shelton, you are obliged to tell the truth in this place.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - Order.
Mr SHELTON - These industries source almost all their timber from public native forests. If those forests are closed, every veneer plant and sawmill in the State, other than those in pinewood softwoods, would close. The furniture and craft industries will also lose their main timber suppliers. This will be an economic disaster for Tasmania; some 3 000 jobs will go.
Mr Booth interjecting.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - Order.
Mr SHELTON - The responsibility for this disaster will rest solely on the Labor-Greens Government. Despite what environmental groups claim, the Tasmanian plantation estate is not suitable for anything other than pulpwood and would not be available for high-quality sawmilling for at least another 30 years. I have been through a lot of investigation and talked to a lot of people and the plantation estate is not suitable for high-quality sawmilling. Most of the nitens planted over the last 10 or a dozen years have not been pruned to a substantial degree and the quality of the timber is not good enough for sawmilling purposes. The blue gum estate, which I believe is only 6 per cent of the plantation estate, is suitable but will take 30 years to grow. In order for there to be a sustainable amount to take over from native forests it would take 30 years to develop that resource.
David Bartlett has abandoned thousands of Tasmanians whose jobs depend on timber from our public native forests. Instead of providing the leadership the forest industry needs in difficult times, the Labor-Greens Government has washed its hands of its responsibilities because David Bartlett is beholden to Mr McKim to continue in government. Labor has handed the future of Tasmanian forest industries to an unelected gang of big business, Gunns, big conservation, the Wilderness Society and the ACF, big associations from the mainland and big unions such as the CFMEU.
The first thing that should be taken into account, of course, is the Tasmanian interest. These big businesses want the best deal for themselves, not Tasmania. It is the Government's responsibility to look after Tasmanian interests and David Bartlett has wimped it. Labor failed to act when the conservationists and the Greens trashed our markets by threatening our Japanese customers with boycotts unless they bought their woodchips elsewhere. Liberals cannot believe the Government's stupidity and naivety. Tasmanian public forests belong to the Tasmanian people, yet the Government seems prepared to give them away. We have learned in the past that so-called compensation must last for a year or two years, but the jobs are lost forever.
As for the Greens suggesting that they may possibly support a pulp mill, in Tasmania in the future, give me a break. The Greens within this House have obviously stated that they will not support the pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. The lessons from trying to deal with the Greens on forestry are clear. They are never satisfied and they just keep moving the goal posts.
Mr McKim - Look where your policy settings have brought us to.
Mr SHELTON - We all know that the Greens will never accept the pulp mill in Tasmania, no matter what they say, and David Bartlett should face up to that fact. When was the last time that the Greens supported a downstream value-adding forestry proposal in Tasmania? They opposed the Wesley Vale mill, the Bell Bay mill and the Ta Ann rotary veneer mill. We Liberals are nailing our colours to the mast. We will stand up for Tasmania and Tasmanian jobs; we proudly support Tasmanian forestry jobs. We support the Bell Bay pulp mill and that is why we proudly oppose the statement of principles. The question is where is Labor, the so-called friend of the worker?
Mr BOOTH (Bass) - Mr Deputy Speaker, I have to say that is the most appalling contribution that I have ever heard in this place, bar none, and there have been some doozies over the years, I can tell you. What a dinosaur this man has become, and the party he represents is absolutely living in some dim distant past that no longer exists. I said the same about the forestry minister at one stage but I think he has slightly come out of that burrow and moved forward. However, you, my friend, have become entombed in bilious rhetoric that does nothing to progress the debate or create a sustainable industry. You have the bare-faced gall to come in here and talk about jobs when you know that the only job you have ever cared about in the forest industry is your own job as an elected representative. You have used this as a vile wedge against the interests of the workers you purport to represent, against the communities who elected you and who pay you good money to dip your snout into two troughs. You are dipping your snout into two troughs at the moment as the mayor of Meander Valley -
Mr ROCKLIFF - Point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. The member for Bass should be addressing any comments to the Chair not engaging in personal attacks on Mr Shelton, which I have to say are highly hypocritical in nature.
Mr McKIM - On the point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Mr Shelton has just made a lengthy contribution, personally attacking me, Mr Booth and the former Leader of the Greens, Ms Putt, so it is entirely reasonable for Mr Booth in a rational, sensible and accurate way to respond to those personal attacks from Mr Shelton. I urge you not to uphold the point of order.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - I do uphold the point of order; Mr Booth should address his comments through the Chair. Other members will have a chance to contribute to the debate.
Mr BOOTH - Mr Deputy Speaker, through the Chair I point out that this man represents a group of absolute dinosaurs who are living in some dim, distant past that no longer exists. Through the Chair I also point out that the only time this gentleman has ever been interested in a single job in the forest industry is to get his own job so he can get that proboscis back into the public purse as the mayor and now a representative.
Mr ROCKLIFF - On the point of order. The member for Bass is continuing to engage in personal attacks on the member for Lyons. It is not out of self-interest that this motion is brought forward. He is there to represent his electorate of Lyons, the most highly regional electorate in Tasmania. A lot of jobs are at stake here in his electorate in the forest industry. I once again point out the hypocrisy of the member for Bass.
Mr McKIM - On the point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker, Mr Shelton has just made a lengthy contribution attacking numerous past and present Greens members in this House and you allowed that to occur. That is fair enough, and we did not take a point of order, but the simple fact is Mr Booth, who is the only person in this Parliament who comes from the forest industry, has hands-on experience, unlike Mr Shelton or Mr Rockliff. Mr Booth clearly has the most experience in the forest industry in this Parliament. He represents the Greens and it would be wrong, in my view, for the Chair to rule that he is not able to defend himself and his Greens colleagues after that vile and inaccurate contribution from Mr Shelton.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - I do not uphold the point of order, but would ask all members to calm down and Mr Booth to return to the debate.
Mr BOOTH - Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and of course if that was not happening in this jurisdiction, the statements this member has made with regard to what he might describe as the contribution of the forest industry today is so false and a misrepresentation of the industry that they ought to be referred to some other jurisdiction to establish their veracity. It could well be that this matter could be referred to a committee to look at because the matters that you have raised here today are so utterly false and fallacious, I cannot believe that you have the gall to come into this Chamber and raise those matters in this debate. They are demonstrably false. It is rubbish. It is nonsense you are talking. It is almost impossible to get up and speak about it because of the fact that the majority of what you have said today in this Chamber is just complete and utter balderdash and it makes it very difficult to have an intelligent debate with somebody who is not prepared to engage with reality.
The facts of the matter are that there are nowhere near 10 000 workers in the timber industry as you asserted today and as your colleagues continue to falsely assert in this place. Those sorts of falsehoods hold back the community from coming to some sort of decent agreement in terms of providing a sustainable long-term future for the timber industry. What you are doing is absolutely living in the past. I have to congratulate at least the Labor Government on this issue, and Minister Bryan Green, with whom I have had some serious disagreements on many occasions in the past, particularly to do with his policy positions and some other matters that we will not talk about, but at least he has now moved into the twenty-first century. His party has moved into the twenty-first century. I think you are back in about the eighteenth century because you are talking about 200 years ago when the sawmilling industry was sustainable in Tasmania. With the sorts of activities that are occurring in Tasmania, to try to justify that as if it should be a continuum forever into the future is just laughable.
Two hundred years ago there was sparse settlement in Tasmania. People went out, predominantly men, with cross-cut saws and axes and spent all day cutting a tree down. They then split them up into shingles and shakes, posts and rails, and beams for houses and stuff. Yes, there were some sawmills that operated in those days. Do you know what most of them were? Pit sawmills. People with cross-cut saws, with someone standing underneath the sawdust. That is where the term 'the pits' came from, because people like you ended up operating underneath a pit saw because that was the only job they could get. If you were not in Parliament and pit saws were still going I am sure you would be working there. But maybe you would not, because I actually do not think you have a real interest in the forest industries. What you are interested in is perpetuating the division and continuing to prevent a constructive resolution to this. You want to lock all those contractors into a fate where they can hardly pay for their rigs and are working like slaves because the Liberal and Labor parties last year voted against the $20 million buy-out package that the Greens had put up in this Parliament. It was debated and defeated by the Liberal Party because of the same rubbish rhetoric you have gone on with today, and the Labor Party who, at that stage, was still living in an ancient, dim, distant, industrial past.
Opposition members interjecting.
Mr BOOTH - It is on the record that, first, your side of the Parliament does not understand the industry, second, you personally have no interest in it other than securing your own job into the future, and third, you have had nothing to say about it that is constructive. At the moment we have Timber Communities Australia, the CFMEU, the TFCA, NAFI and FIAT all engaged in talks, all wanting to get a resolution, except for the Liberal Party. Yet you have the bare-faced gall to come in here and try to purport that you represent any sector of the industry. Well, you do not represent them and it is about time that you got your fellow Liberal Party members to come into the present.
You also had the audacity to suggest that the Greens have never had a solution to the forest industries. We are the party in this House that in 2002 published a strategy which was put up for peer review and was never critically acclaimed by anybody in that regard. It has stood since 2002 uncontested that there is a better way forward. We then revised that and took it to the 2002 election. Then in 2006 we took a revised version to the election and in 2010 our Forest Transition Strategy was once again out there for peer review and criticism. Nobody in industry said that it would not work. In fact, it mirrors to some degree the even greater quantum leap that is now occurring in terms of industry restructure that is being discussed behind closed doors, out of the parliamentary regime, which people such as the Liberal Party and the Labor Party in the past have used as a political wedge. Those industry players who are actually involved in it are getting together and do you know what they are proposing? Something that is diametrically opposed to what your motion now serves today. So not only are you out of step with the Tasmanian Greens, you are also out of step with every other group that supports the industry. Absolutely every one of them, as well as every single NGO.
Mr Shelton - For a negotiating draft - that's what the motion is about.
Mr BOOTH - The final negotiating draft is a form of words that those groups can get together and discuss. You obviously will not be part of that because you have taken a position that you are simply going to maintain the political wedge. Do you know what people such as yourselves have done by constructing and using so cynically and selfishly the timber workers of this State as a political wedge? You have locked up huge tracts of Tasmania's landscape that ought to be there for ecological services. You have frustrated any private grower who has ever tried to grow timber in this State and make a decent return out of it, because you have simply ladled ladle after ladle of public subsidy and tax deduction into the mix so that there is no rational business model. It is completely unsustainable and the sort of thing you would expect out of the controlled economy in a communist country.
I have used the parallel before of the absurdity of the situation in the Soviet Union where steel was the same price everywhere in Russia. So it meant that it might cost $600 a tonne to transport it from Siberia to build something out of it but it did not matter because it was the one price right around the state. That moral hazard of market intervention that you so slavishly subscribe to is the antithesis of what the Liberal Party claim they stand for, so how can it be that today you are in here interfering in a market, wanting to waste more public money? Why is it that people are queuing up for hospital beds and stuff? Because people like yourselves have stopped the industry getting onto a proper footing and instead diverted scant government resources that should have gone into public hospitals and roads and so forth into propping up an unsustainable industry.
Mr ROCKLIFF - Point of order. The member for Bass really needs to address his comments through the Chair. He is pointing at and verballing the member for Lyons. We have raised this point of order a couple of times and he should be courteous to the House.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - I will remind the member to address his comments through the Chair.
Mr BOOTH - Once again this gentleman has demonstrated that he would rather have a whole lot of forest contractors go broke with harsh and oppressive contracts that he knows they cannot meet. He knows they cannot make any money but he wants that to continue so they all go broke and everybody queues up for a hospital bed because all the public money that should have gone into providing those sorts of services has been consumed setting up an unsustainable business model. I am sure that some members of the Liberal Party agree with me in that you cannot have the Crown interfering in the market. They do not do that with the milk industry, vegetable industry, the pig industry or any other industry. How ridiculous it would be for the Government -
Mr Green - We do own the resource, though.
Mr BOOTH - It does not matter, you are in charge of making the regulations. The Government ought not be in the business of interfering in the market. On a landscape scale there are massive areas -
Mr Green - Yes, but they're run under the GBEs, which they have a responsibility to act commercially.
Mr BOOTH - Well, that is the point. I wish they did have the responsibility to act commercially because they would have gone broke years ago. The reason that people like Gunns, Forest Enterprises, Timber Corp, Enviroinvest, and Great Southern have all gone broke is market interference by the Government. The Government pushed them into an unsustainable business model that could never ever survive or generate any internal rate of returns, let alone a return to the Crown. Instead of a rational business model developing, where 30 or 40 years ago people might have put in plantations to grow timber to get a dollar out of it at the end of the day, we are now faced with this ridiculous spectacle of the Crown selling wood off for $5 a tonne for export woodchips or giving radiata pine away.
Turning my attention back to Mr Green for the moment, there is no greater example of an irrational business model than the export of 30 000 cubic metres of softwood and some hardwood logs, recently organised off the Port of Burnie with the methyl bromide issue which was very contentious. What you have done is given away wood to the Chinese sawmills to compete against Tasmanian sawmills. You gave them the wood but you charged the Tasmanian sawmillers so much that they cannot compete because of the cheap product flown in from overseas. What is the point? You should have supported our motion last year to fund an exit package for the deliberate overcapacity in the industry. It was identified by Paul Cook and Associates in 2005. They found that there were 30 per cent too many contractors in 2005 and they needed an $18.76 million buy-out package then to get the industry to a sustainable level. What has happened since? All you have heard from the Liberal Party and up until latterly from the Labor Government has been this auction for political donations from the big end of town who do very well out of this arrangement, but no support whatsoever for those contractors. I do not know how you can lie straight in bed or look these people in the eye and tell them you care about them when last year Mr Rockliff was one who led the charge in defeating a buy-out package that would have got those contractors out of the industry with dignity and with their homes intact. I think it is appalling that you continue to try to destabilise these talks in the way you do, talks that are between industry and environment groups. That has to be a good thing. It has to be a good thing that the community has come together to try to construct a way forward that will deliver a long-term, sustainable timber industry that not only supports the community but is also supported by the community. I put it to you that the Liberal Party's only reason for bringing this up today is to try to torpedo the talks to maintain that political wedge that has been so successful in delivering two jobs to Mr Shelton, who still draws down on the public purse as a mayor and a member of parliament. That is reprehensible to me, but, particularly when you look at the background, it is astounding that he has the bare-faced gall to come in here and pretend that he represents the timber industry, which he patently does not. If he does, it is like that much of an industry that big -
Mr Brooks - Come on.
Mr BOOTH - because every single other player in the industry, Mr Brooks, as you know, has said, 'We want to actually move this on to a market-driven model that produces a commodity that is competitive \\globally and is what the community wants.' We have to get the marketing right, we have to get the business model right, we have to get the sustainability issues done and hopefully we will have an industry where people come to us and want to buy the timber, just as they come to us because they want to buy our crayfish, abalone, or some of our vegetable products and so forth. If we really want to talk about jobs in rural communities the Liberal Party ought to be interested in a landscape-wide rural and regional rejuvenation program that delivers some opportunity for the growing of our rural industries, both at the producer level and at the processing level. Coupled with a branding program, robust biosecurity, protection of the industry to make sure that it is not damaged by some other untoward event, we can concentrate on making dollars out of it rather than volume, concentrate on jobs rather than logs, which the timber industry has concentrated on in the past, and create a community that has a future for your kids and grandkids. At the end of the day their children will be able to, not only have a job, but also have the hospital to go to if they need to.
Where you interfere in the market you end up with neither. You end up with no money for the public health system and housing and roads and all that stuff, because you have already wasted it on an unsustainable model. Your children will not have access to health and they will not have access to the jobs that you are talking about. I think it is way past time that we let the industry and the other conservation groups and community groups who are interested in creating a future in this industry to get together to talk about it, not try to wedge them out of it. The Greens' position is that we will always continue to support the corruptly approved Longreach pulp mill at Gunns.
Mr Green - You are going to support it?
Mr BOOTH - No, the corruptly -
Mr Green - No, you said, we will continue to support.
Mr BOOTH - To make the record clear, absolutely, that we will continue - sorry - to oppose the corruptly approved Bell Bay pulp mill; absolutely.
Mr Shelton - Even if these negotiations give it a tick?
Mr BOOTH - Absolutely continue to oppose the corruptly approved Bell Bay pulp mill.
Mr Shelton - Even if these negotiations say yes to it?
Mr BOOTH - You do not need to ask me that question. You heard what I said. You have heard what we have put on the record, just like you heard what we thought about supporting the contractors last year when your party voted it down. We absolutely will continue to oppose it and if anybody wants to use that as some brokering point for these negotiations, then they need to think again, because that is non-negotiable as far as the Greens are concerned.
In terms of the negotiating agreement, that document you are talking about, Mr Shelton, is silent on the corruptly approved Longreach pulp mill proposal of Gunns. It simply says that there are a form of words around supporting a hypothetical pulp mill.
It is interesting how the language goes. I do not know of anybody who absolutely opposes per se in totality any form of pulping process or a pulp mill of some sort. What the community absolutely stands against is corruption and if you had a single shred of a democratic bone in your body, you would have to say that the process of approval for that pulp mill, rewarding Gunns for their bad behaviour in not providing information, and recalling Parliament -
Mr GUTWEIN - Point of order. The member for Bass is not implying, in fact he was suggesting very strongly, that both Houses of Parliament are corrupt. He should be asked to withdraw that. Unless you are going to sit in the Chair and allow both Houses of Parliament to be called corrupt, you should ask the member to withdraw that.
Mr BOOTH - Mr Deputy Speaker, what Mr Gutwein just suggested is patently false. I made no such suggestion that anybody in this Chamber was corrupt. I said 'a corruptly approved pulp mill'. The community understands that every other Tasmanian has to go through an exact process when you apply for something. This process was corrupted because it did not go through the proper process and I stand by my words.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - I remind you, Mr Booth, that to reflect on a vote of either House is not appropriate and is contrary to Standing Orders. As long as you are not doing that, you are in order.
Mr BOOTH - Thank you for that very wise ruling.
Mr GUTWEIN - Point of Order, Mr Deputy Speaker. He should withdraw that. To claim that the process was corrupt, when both Houses of Parliament voted on it, directly implies that the vote of this House was conducted in a corrupt manner. That was not the case and he should withdraw it.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - Mr Gutwein, I hear what you are saying but I do not believe what he said reflected on the votes of the two Houses. Mr Booth has heard what you said.
Mr Gutwein - If the process is corrupt, who was involved in the process?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - I do not draw the same conclusion.
Mr McKim - He didn't say anything about the vote. It could have been taken out of the RPDC.
Mr Gutwein - Who is responsible for the process?
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - The vote of the House, not the process.
Mr BOOTH - Point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thought that in the Standing Orders you do not continue arguing against the Speaker once he has made his ruling.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - The point of order is concluded and you may proceed.
Mr BOOTH - That brings me to a point that we were not necessarily going to be talking about today in this debate. If you are feeling fragile about the fact that you thought I was saying that any member of this House behaved in a corrupt manner with regard to this, then obviously that is not what I said. But if you are feeling fragile or insecure or somehow self-identify from what I have said -
Mr Gutwein interjecting.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - Order. Can you address the motion please, Mr Booth, and through the Chair.
Mr BOOTH - Moving on from that matter, I do not think there is a lot more I can say on this motion. As I said from the start, it is constructed without good faith. It has no merit whatsoever because there is no truth in the arguments raised. There is nothing persuasive about it in any way. What the Liberal Party are doing in this case is sloughing more votes off their backs, which is probably indicated in the poll that has been released today. They dropped 8 per cent or something like that in support around the community. I suggest this behaviour that the Liberal Party have engaged in today - this wedge politics of Mr Shelton's motion - is a classic example of why people are simply closing their ears to and turning their backs on the Liberal Party. They do not want to be held back in that ancient, dinosaur past, back in the 1950s where most of this thinking has come from. It is way past time that you had a good hard look at what you have been doing to these people, these so-called timber folk and timber communities that you purport to represent. Start talking to the real contractors out there who at the moment are losing their houses as a result of harsh and oppressive contracts that Gunns have saddled them with. You, who claim to support them, have never ever come into this House to advocate for or support them. Your party voted down a $20 million buy-out package that the Greens debated in the House last year. It would have let these families leave the industry with dignity and with enough cash to maintain their homes. But what did the Liberal Party do? They continued on with the vile political wedge and kept on dividing and trying to rule, but it has backfired now. It backfired in March. It backfired again yesterday with an 8 per cent drop. The way you are going you will become so irrelevant to the timber debate, and so irrelevant to the Tasmanian community, that you will become a party of maybe one, two, three or four. If you look at the rapid decline of the Liberal Party, it is people like yourselves and that style of thinking that are dragging you down into the gutter. It is time you stopped playing politics with the lives of these people in the timber industry who are really interested in having a decent future.
Opposition members interjecting.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER - Order.
Mr BOOTH - Mr Gutwein has self-identified in here that he also has no concern about the matters I raised with regard to assisting contractors to exit this industry with dignity and their homes intact. This is an opportunity, Mr Gutwein, for a landscape-scale change to make this industry a sustainable and acceptable industry. You ought to start being part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Gambles wins Ironman debut race in U.S.....Portey 4th on GC, holds two jerseys after stage 2 Tour of Britain

Gambles IM win here
and Here
"A pair of course records fell at Ironman Wisconsin on Sunday.

Australian Joe Gambles, who had never done either an Ironman race or a marathon, took the lead in the men's race about nine miles into the run course and held on for the victory in record time. He crossed the line in 8 hours, 38 minutes, 32 seconds.
A short time later, New Zealander Gina Crawford (9:27:26) shattered the women's course record by nine minutes en route to the title.
"To go the course record and to win today, I can't believe it," Gambles said. "I did the training, I did the work, but you never know in your first Ironman."

...............................

Portey's news here
and Here
Richie Porte Now Fourth Overall In Tour Of Britain

[12.09 17:50] "Once again, Team Saxo Bank Aussie, Richie Porte was a key figure on today's 160 kilometer long second stage of Tour of Britain with finish line in Stoke-on-Trent.
Both Team Saxo Bank's Richie Porte and Jaroslaw Marycz participated in today's crucial breakaway which was, however divided several times on the way to the finish line where Greg Henderson was the fastest of the bunch. Team Saxo Bank's Richie Porte finished 12th and is now fourth overall. In addition, he leads the sprint and mountain competition in the race as a result of his always aggressive style of riding.
“This was one of the hardest stages of the race and Richie (Porte) demonstrated that he was the best and strongest on the climbs. He is really motivated and in good shape so we're hoping for a good result for him overall. Jaroslaw (Marycz) was in the break with him at first and he made a huge effort and sacrifice setting the pace of the group in order to create a big gap. And he sure managed doing so,” said sports director, Torsten Schmidt after the race".

Friday, September 10, 2010

Eastment says Gunns wants seat at roundtable.

Robert Eastment tells Airlie Ward Here......... "we (Gee Robert who is "we". Ooh its all very cosy.) can also confirm now that Gunns is seeking a place at the table in its own right" ....and when they get there Gunns will be.... "looking for something in return"

Let me guess? Errr...ummmm...i dunno...maybe a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley??

Tell em they are dreamin Bob.

Transcript coming soon.

FIAT's Terry Edwards spits dummy with Gunns. Gunns still in denial about on the nose Tamar Valley Pulp Mill.

Amazing isnt it. Gunns pull the pin on FIAT this week meaning the loss of a major cash injection into the organisation and for the first time in living memory cricticism of Gunns starts to flow from FIAT.
Get it off your chest Terry. Blow that whistle tiger!

Here and Here

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Tourism shuns TV's wild man - published in The Mercury

Tourism Tasmania chief Felicia Mariani said there were concerns the survival show, which screens on Discovery Channel and SBS, might not fit in with what she called Tasmania's "brand".

"While there is a great general audience reach globally, the findings of our research into audience profile and brand-fit for Tasmania of Man vs Wild raised concerns about the connection of this type of extreme adventure activity with our brand," she said.

Read more Here

Brand-fit my eye Felicia!
Have you got any idea how big this TV show's audience is?
Have you ever walked through the south-west or cradle Felicia? Tassy was made for this show.
Cut the navel gazing and bring the crazy bear to Tassy!

pilko

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Examiner readers, Tamar Valley businessman slam Gunns boss so called "mended fences".

Read The Examiner's curiously placed front page corporate feel good piece Here

and Peter Whish-Wilson's open letter to Gunns boss Here

Thursday, September 2, 2010

I'll be stuffed! They are restoring the numbers in the parliament.

This is potentially great news for democracy in Tasmania. Read about it here
I wrote the Labor Government a recipe for restoring faith in Government just before Paul Lennon resigned (yeah pushed actually) in May 2008. It read as follows...

1. Remove Paul Lennon as Premier. - DONESKY
2. Remove Green and Kons - HALF DONESKY.
3. Stop the planned pulp mill for the Tamar Valley. - DOH!
4. Institute an anti-corruption body and start cleaning up Tasmania before the next election. -HALF DONESKY
5. Restore the parliament to an appropriate size. -DONESKY PENDING.
 
Clearly the proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill is still the fly in the ointment. As Professor Richard Herr argued of the pulp mill "Questions need to be answered to the satisfaction of the public, not to the convenience of the parties”. If the issue continues to be sidestepped and swept under the carpet, Tasmania will continue to pay the price. It will, as Dr Herr suggested “overhang the political process for a very long time”.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Nah Australia isnt a racist society (cough, splutter). Check out this story from Darwin.

......"Well, there have been a couple of citizens I suppose you could call them who have come and hurled abuse at the asylum seekers. One of them was just taken away by police screaming at the asylum seekers had busted up Commonwealth property, something like that.

Certainly this morning this being the main road in and out of town, there was a big traffic jam and there was lots of abuse hurled from the roadway and you know, I have caught sounds of motorists screaming by yelling out you know lines like 'go home ragheads' and other abusive comments"

Read the rest of the transcript from the ABC's World Today program Here