Happy New Year all yooz

Dr. Warwick Raverty responds to Launceston Mayoral reject

In todays Examiner Newspaper, (Letter to the Editor - 30th Dec 2010) Launceston Mayoral reject Ivan Dean took the stick to Dr.Warwick Raverty, a good and decent man who has devoted 25 years of his scientific career to conducting research aimed at assisting the pulp and paper industry to become sustainable. For those who dont know, Dr.Warwick Raverty is Australia's foremost guru on Kraft Pulp Mill Technology particlularly in the area of 'odours'  .
Ex cop and Tasmanian upper house MLC Ivan Deans today described Dr. Raverty's recent comments about the risks posed by fugitive odour emissions emanating from the proposed Gunns Tamar Valley pulp mill as 'ill informed and alarmingly mischievous"! Ivan Dean was of course the pro-logging Mayor of Launceston who famously described an historic 10,000 strong anti-pulp mill protest in his home town Launceston as "misinformed". Not long after, Dean was embarrassingly voted out of office.

Dean's latest dismissal of Dr. Warwick Raverty’s warning of risks posed by fugitive odour emissions highlights the absurdity of Tasmania’s largest ever industrial project (Gunns Pulp Mill) being planned and assessed by Politicians instead of by an independent expert planning body. That Alderman Dean really believes a few welds could dissipate fugitive emissions and that other Kraft mills built in the last 100 years would not have employed cutting edge technology like welding (cough, cough) is quite hilarious? It also betrays incredible hubris on Alderman Deans part that he clearly sees himself more expert in Kraft Mill technology than Dr.Warwick Raverty, a man who has 25 years in the pulp and paper industry.
When once asked on the ABC if he “trusted Gunns” Ivan Dean famously replied,...................... “ Well, of course I trust that - why wouldn't you? They're a very reputable organisation in this state. They've been here for a long, long period of time. And why wouldn't they want to deliberately mislead? I couldn't see any reason for that at all and of course I accept that. And if you start doubting everything that you're told by everybody, you're not going to get too far, are you?

Scary, I know.

Hansard shows former Upper House President Don Wing, during the fast tracking of the pulp mill warning “He (Raverty) has had vast experience and ignoring his views would be to the jeopardy of anybody who chooses to do so. If the Government chooses to do so, it is on their heads”.
Clearly Ivan Dean also knows better than Don Wing.

Pilko

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

Anyway here is the reply Dr. Raverty submitted to the Examiner Newspaper. It will be interesting to see if the pro-Gunns, pro pulp mill northern rag publish this....

....."I am sure that many Tamar Valley residents will be greatly reassured by Alderman Dean’s advice (Letters 30th Dec) that six of his fellow aldermen rejected the legitimacy of my public warning about fugitive odour from a kraft pulp mill at Long Reach. I am even more certain that the same residents would be far more reassured if Gunns’ proposal was not protected by the iniquitous Section 11 of the Pulp Mill Assessment Act. I challenge Alderman Dean and his six colleagues to provide some sort of meaningful financial guarantee to residents and businesses in the Valley in the event that he is wrong about odour from the mill. What Alderman Dean neglects to mention in his letter is that Gunns did not publish their plans for a fully welded foul gas line until the day after I issued my warning. He will search in vain for any information about this feature in Gunn’s 2006 draft IIS. So instead of suggesting my letter is ‘alarmingly mischievous’, he should be thanking me and many others who have kept pressure on Gunns (at their own expense, unlike the amply salaried Alderman Dean and his colleagues) to remedy the many deficiencies in this ill-conceived and poorly managed proposal. I remind Alderman Dean that it was I who campaigned for over a year against Gunns’ intention to install the risky ‘Integrated Chlorine Dioxide Process’, until even Sweco Pic were forced to admit that it was not Accepted Modern Technology. No, Alderman Dean and other politicians supporting this abomination have been conspicuous by their gullibility in heeding the many demonstrably false utterances of the proponent over the past 5 years and derelict in their duty to the majority of their electors. While the fully welded foul gas line is a step in the right direction, there remain many unanswered questions concerning the control of odour in this mill and other matters that Gunns refused to provide to the RPDC over a period of 2 years of questioning. Needless to say, none of these details were examined by the unprecedented ‘fast-track’ approval process that your Parliament inflicted on its own electors. Alderman Dean can rest assured that I remain unconvinced by Gunns’ latest announcements that the mill will be odour-free and he can expect further robust debate in the Council chamber in the New Year informed by me and other technical experts who remain resolute in their conviction that the quality of life of the many should not be sacrificed to the greed and collusion of a privileged few.'

Dr. Warwick Raverty

$500,000 per week of Tax Payer freebies to Forestry Tasmania every week for the last 5 years. Why? Where did it go and how long can Tasmania afford to carry FT?

....."FORESTRY Tasmania has hoarded $22 million of federal and state government grants it has received since 2005 as part of the five-year Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement. Confidential documents released two days before Christmas under Right to Information laws reveal Forestry Tasmania has received a massive $140 million of the $221 million handed to the Tasmanian forestry industry since 2005"......

Read about it Here ,  here ,  heresky  and  Heresky

Sue Neales on Tasmanian Politics 2010. Nick Mckim and Cassy O'Connor "obsequiously silent"

.........."Too often, Mr McKim and Ms O'Connor have been obsequiously silent in parliamentary debates, when in the past they would have been the Government's most vocal critics. Think about this year's disturbing revelations about child protection. Or about Aurora ineptness, expensive renegotiated Hawthorn football deals, prison breakouts and broken Labor election promises on capping power price rises and spending.
And when it comes to new policies, it is hard to know exactly whether Mr McKim and Ms O'Connor are having the ameliorating effect they like to claim within Cabinet, because they, like all ministers, are bound by confidentiality.
Pragmatism in return for personal power is not a look the public likes much, particularly Tasmanian Greens supporters. Many, rightly or wrongly, are hailing MP Kim Booth, who refused to be part of any deal with the Government, as the only true Greens leader left"..........Read More in The Mercury

Matt Goss wins Launceston Cycling Classic

"Matthew Goss (HTC-Columbia) won the 2010 Launceston Classic criterium after a terrific lead-out from teammate Leigh Howard. It was his third Classic win, with Howard finished second and Will Clarke (Genesys Wealth Advisers) rounding out the podium in front of thousands of fans. “The race was tough and it’s excellent to get another win in front of my family and friends," Goss said. Leigh did a brilliant lead-out today and it was thanks to him we could walk away with victory."....................Read More on Cyclingnews.com Here

Feel like i have been hit by a bus.........well sorta

Swam 2k at sunny riverside pool today. I found new sore bits. Why did i fall off my bike??
I feel like i have been hit by a bus......well not quite, but u get the point.
Then I dragged myself out to walk Charli this arvo. I only lasted 2km. Sore and slow. Sorry Charli.
Oh well it could have been worse.
Speaking of disaster areas. I havent seen the Australian cricket team in such bad shape since the days of World Series Cricket. For christs sake, sack the selectors and a few of the players. Ponting cant wear all the blame, but depending on the series result he could be on his last legs. I blame 20/20 cricket.

Examiner readers say no to the pulp mill. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it Mr Editor

Results TBC when I borrow a copy of Pat's Examiner (we don't buy the ex at my place..cough...cough)
  394 Examiner Readers say YES to a Pulp Mill in Tasmania
1613 Examiner Readers say NO to a Pulp Mill in Tasmania

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

Question is Mr Examiner Editor.........'Will your newspaper's reporting on the proposed Tamar Valley Pulp Mill now begin reflecting community sentiment or will it continue to privelege corporate and political sentiment?'

Xmas 'offie'.....OUCH!!

Well xmas was nice.
2 days in hobart with the family. Had a nice day yesterday at my sisters place eating crayfish, king prawns etc.
Was beginning to feel a bit overfed....as you do....and was determined to get home to my mums place in glenorchy for a quick pre-dinner bike ride.
Headed off around 5pm onto the hobart bike paths for a quick n pleasant 30k.
At around 6ish I was near claremont, ride nearly done and dont ask me how but i stacked.
Over the handlebars i went and BANG!!, landed flat on my back. I hit my head (helmet on!!) and my helmet flicked off a few metres down the track. 
Though it wasnt meant to, it all happened so quickly.
For a short while i lay on the track groaning with my lower back ringing with pain before struggling to the feet to check that all my bits were still intact. "Are you alright mate?" slome bloke yelled over the fence. "I think so". How embarrassment!
In all my years of cycling, racing bikes, triathlons, hurtling down hills and around corners this was only my third real offie (not including when i got the speed wobbles and fell off robbie broadway's dragster in grade 7 and broke my arm). My other two falls were in Darwin, one of which resulted in a broken collar bone.
Anyway, thank god my bike escaped unscathed.
Oh yeah i was o.k too. Aside from some cuts and abrasions and feeling like i had just  been tackled by the wallabies front row!
Well that was a xmas day i wont forget in a hurry.
Back home in gravelly beach now, stiff, quite sore, but relieved that i am not lying in the hobart hospital with another broken collarbone.
Thanks Santa!!

p.s can you believe the aussie batsmen? 98??? Pathetic

Merry Xmas all yooz.

Merry Xmas!
Thanks to all who have participated in my blog this year (even the grumpy people). Stay safe on the roads and i hope you all find good company, lots of fun and happiness over the xmas and new year.
Lovexxxxxx
Rick P

Merry Xmas Gunns style as another mill closes, 200 jobs go. Another 300 jobs set to go in next four months......Tasmanian Loggers not satisfied with taxpayer freebie.

.............."Timber giant Gunns today closed a major woodchip mill in north-west Tasmania, leaving up to 200 timber workers out of work and another 300 likely to meet the same fate in the next four months. It is the first of several closures for the company as it tries to move away from old-growth logging and towards plantation timber. Rodney Bishop, who has been cutting down trees near his small town of Smithton for 30 years, says he and his wife Jan are closing their contracting business today"......................."The Federal Government yesterday made offers of assistance to loggers wanting to exit the industry, but only 30 of the 80 who applied were successful. Mr Bishop was one of the lucky ones. "Without putting too fine a point, I think it's a pitiful amount of money for the situation we're in," he said...........Read More Here

Tasmanian Conservation Trust says no to deficient Tasmanian Forests Peace Deal

FROM THE TCT WEBSITE..........................."On 20 October 2010, the Tasmanian Conservation Trust announced that it had decided not to endorse the Forests Statement of Principles Agreement (the Agreement) which was signed by representatives of the forest industry and three conservation groups and presented to you on the 19 October 2010. The TCT is delighted to acknowledge that the Agreement establishes considerable common ground between the industry and conservationists and this is a good basis for further negotiation. The TCT also acknowledges that the Agreement promises an astoundingly positive outcome for the protection of high conservation values of intact forests on public land, mainly in wilderness areas, and the TCT strongly supports this ambition. The Agreement is NOT, however, a complete plan for the conservation of Tasmania’s forested landscapes and the TCT has identified a number of key issues that need to be addressed in parallel to any efforts to implement the Agreement if a truly effective and comprehensive conservation outcome is to be achieved. Indeed, the principal reason why the TCT did not join others in endorsing the Agreement was because of the sheer number of omissions and their importance for the TCT and the wider Tasmanian community".

The Agreement: -

• fails to address the broader need for protection of native forests and other ecosystems for biodiversity conservation – where almost all priority issues and areas are to be found on private land
• fails to address ‘fatal flaws’ associated with ongoing attempts by Gunns Ltd to establish its Bleached Eucalyptus Kraft Pulp (BEKP) pulp mill in the Tamar Valley
• fails to make an appropriate commitment to reform land management agencies in Tasmania, especially Forestry Tasmania and the Parks and Wildlife Service, to recognise internal conflicts of interest and the intended reality of a much expanded reserve estate in Tasmania (likely to be more than 50% of the state if the reserves promised as part of the Agreement are included)
• fails to establish an appropriate, science-based process to establish prudent timetables and limitations on a transition out of disputed public native forests that clearly establishes appropriate high conservation values, the extent of such values and appropriate management of forest needed to maintain such values; and
• fails to commit to identifying and commercially exploiting the carbon benefits of protecting and restoring native forests.

Read More Here

"Jordan River levee site contains a sequence virtually uninterrupted from the present to nearly 40,000 years ago". article from The Mercury

........."THE archaeologist who discovered the Jordan River levee site has slammed the State Government's approval of a four-lane Brighton bypass over the 40,000-year-old Aboriginal heritage site. Tim Stone yesterday called on the Federal Government to stop the planned bridge, just as it did with the Kutikina Cave in the Wild Rivers National Park in 1983. "They stepped in for Kutikina and I cannot see why this site should be any different," Dr Stone said. "Kutikina is a significant site but the Jordan River levee site blows it out of the water, so they have to step in."
Dr Stone said the discovery of Kutikina Cave in 1983 stunned the world because it offered a snapshot of 2000 to 3000 years in the life of the most southerly people on the planet at the height of the last glacial period. In contrast, the Jordan River levee site contains a sequence virtually uninterrupted from the present to nearly 40,000 years ago, he said................Read More in The Mercury here

Labor Greenhorn approves Brighton Bypass. Mckim says "sorry nothing we can do". Aboriginals set for a fight and accuse 'lax' Mckim of "flying under the radar"

Which planet has Tasmania's most senior left wing parliamentarian and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Nick Mckim been on whilst the Brighton Bypass issue has been unfolding?  Mckim, the Leader of the Tasmanian Green's response to the devastating decision to build a freeway over and trash part of one of the worlds most significant archaeological sites has been inadequate to say the least.

Ever the politician Mckim reminded devastated aboriginals that The Greens were ..."the only party who have consistently stated our opposition to any impacts upon the Jordan River Levee site......and  reiterated that the decision on the permits issued by Minister Wightman did not go to Cabinet".

One contributor to the Mercury's online comments railed........"What a joke Nick McKim. Your excuse that the decision "did not go to cabinet" is laughable, because if it did go to cabinet yourself and Cassy would choose not to take part in the cabinet discussions/vote - exactly as you have done in the past when you couldn't handle the heat of an earlier unrelated decision. Now that you've used the excuse "the decision didn't go to cabinet" and the excuse "we chose not to be in cabinet for the decision" What excuse will you use next time? Back when yourself and Cassy chose not to be in cabinet for a different decision you said it was because the issue wasn't important enough to risk breaking the Labor - Green alliance, with that in mind I ask you exactly what would it take for you to risk the Labor - Green alliance?...
Posted by: James 11:01am today

Todays Mercury Newspaper reported that Aboriginal Heritage Officer Aaron Everett accused Nick McKim of being "lax in his responsibility toward Aboriginal people and "staying under the radar" when it came time for real action".

The Leader of the Tasmanian Greens said of his Labor cabinet colleague's decision to approve the controversial bypass.....“We must all learn from this distressing, and potentially divisive, situation".................WHAT THE??

POTENTIALLY divisive?
Ah...erm...earth calling the Greens leader.

Tasmanian Aboriginal protesters are already flocking to the contested site at Brighton, 25km north of Hobart and appear ready to go to war with the Tasmanian Government. They have vowed to stand their ground and fight for as long as takes, even if that means being arrested. All the 'learning' and debriefing in the world will neither console them or bring justice.
If Gunns find a joint venture partner and build the Tamar Valley pulp mill one wonders whether the Greens leader and born again Labor mate will proffer up similarly soft and useless platitudes to another devastated community.

PILKO

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

........"Seven metres below the planned elevated highway lies the bank of the river, where it is indisputable that ancient Aboriginal communities have moved, met and camped for epochs -- literally 36,000 thousand years before the great pyramids of Egypt or Stonehenge were built. The Jordan levee silt bank is special. Because of specific geological and geographical features in the surrounding river valley it has not been disturbed, moved or dramatically altered by flood waters through the course of at least two ice ages and eons before as well.
Across the 14-hectare site, it is estimated as many as three million ancient stone tools, fireplaces, ash and bone fragments are spread deep through the soil profile.
They are the remnant traces of one of the earliest civilisations known in Australia and, indeed, across the world.
It is an extraordinary thought that these flints, axe heads and stone tools, some made from rocks found only in far distant locations, are the remains and debris of 1600 generations of Tasmanian Aboriginal people who have lived in the area.
Compare that with the maximum eight generations of white Australians who have lived on this island since 1803 and it is easy to feel like a tiny ant barely scrapping the surface of history in comparison.
Archaeologist Robert Paton, writing about his unexpected discovery in a recent issue of 40 degrees South
magazine, describes the Brighton levee bank as "one of the most significant archaeological sites in the world". "We were expecting dates of around 10,000 years. These new dates made it the oldest site in Tasmania by several thousand years, and among the oldest archaeological sites in Australia," Mr Paton writes.
"[At depths dated to the period between] 26,000 and 41,000 years, the layers of human occupation were neatly sandwiched between sandy deposits. "This was an extraordinary archaeological find. [It] gives us an unparalleled glimpse into the lives of people from so long ago and their vibrant and changing culture."
One would expect amazement, awe and pride to be the overwhelming sentiment and feeling of all Tasmanians at the discovery of such ancient evidence of early man existing on Hobart's rural doorstep.
Yet ever since the debate about the significance of the Jordan River levee bank began early this year, after Mr Paton revealed his astonishingly early dates going back 41,000 years, Tasmanians have revealed a disturbing lack of interest or curiosity -- let alone pride -- in some of man's earliest beginnings being found in Tasmania. Instead, the reaction has largely been antagonistic and abhorrently racist. The finds have been dismissed by many Tasmanians as being "only" about Aboriginal heritage -- and therefore of no interest apparently to the wider community. Overwhelmingly, the ugly sentiment expressed on website blogs such as the Mercury's, has been that Aborigines should stop whingeing and let the Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources get on with building the long-awaited four-lane upgrade of the Midland Highway across the historic site for the good of all Tasmanians.
Progress rather than history -- the dominance of cars and trucks over the unique culture and heritage of the first Tasmanians, has been the base level of debate.
Just as distasteful have been the disingenuous assertions made by the department and other build-the-highway-regardless proponents who have claimed that putting a flyover slap-bang across the levee bank actually preserves and protects the precious treasures and history below"...........Read More Here
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/12/17/194261_tasmania-news.html
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/17/3096198.htm

Boat tragedy: How Australians became complicit in the horror of Christmas Island. by Richard Flanagan in The Guardian

............."I saw a person dying in front of me, and there was nothing I could do to save them," resident Kamar Ismail is reported to have said. "Babies, children, maybe three or four years old, they were hanging on to bits of timber, they were screaming 'help, help, help'." Lifejackets thrown down were tossed back by storm winds, the last illusion of a hope that had once borne the name Australia.

If 30 Australians drowned in Sydney Harbour it would be a national tragedy. But when 30 or more refugees drown off the Australian coast, it is a political question...........Read More in the guardian.co.uk 

Richie Porte interview

Great interview with Richie Porte from the Team Saxobank website

I nearly fell off my chair when i read this. Logging industry lobby group flounders as the corporate teat is withdrawn

HOW EMBARRASSMENT!

..........."The Forest Industries Association of Tasmania (FIAT) has sacked its chairman because it can not afford to pay him.FIAT lost half its income when Tasmania's largest timber company, Gunns, withdrew from the organisation in September"..............Read More Here

West Tamar Mayor Barry Easther votes down Pulp Mill elector poll. Joy Allen, Rick Shegog, Trevor Roach and John Watson join Mayor to vote down democratic poll.

Congratulations to West Tamar Councillors Karl Stevens, Christine Holmdahl, Peter Kearney and Viv Tyson for reflecting the overwhelming feeling of the West Tamar municipality and attempting to give them a voice on the pulp mill issue.

Perhaps its time for the WTC ratepayers to call another public meeting and remind the Mayor, Joy Allen, Rick Shegog, Trevor Roach and John Watson about how ratepayers feel on this issue.
Read more from page 30 on the December 14 council meeting minutes

Former Union Leader appointed as 'facilitator' in Tassie forest peace deal.

..............."The well-known union leader has been appointed as “facilitator” to try to turn a landmark statement of principles agreed by conservationists and forest companies and workers into a lasting deal. Mr Kelty told The Australian he accepted the role because he believed in the kind of push for consensus that the Hawke government initiated in the 1980s. “’I’m looking forward to it ... this (finding consensus) is a good thing for nations to do,” he said. He denied his 30 years representing the interests of workers constituted a bias in favour of timber workers over conservation outcomes. “There’s only one bias and that is to try to ensure the best outcome in terms of the public good,” he said....................Read More below in The OZ
Former Union Leader appointed as 'facilitator' in Tassie forest peace deal.

TAP spurns Gunns PR advances.

TAP warns against Gunns PR game. See TAP email below......

.......GUNNS HAVE HIRED A PR COMPANY TO PROVIDE THEM WITH A SOCIAL LICENSE. They are conducting interviews around Tasmania this week. Do NOT Speak To Pax Populus from Gunns. This is a PR firm that have promised Gunns a pulp mill 'social license'. TAP strongly advises against cooperating with them. They have been door knocking and asking for interviews etc. Gunns withdrew from the proper planning process because they knew they would be turned down. Our human rights were removed by section 11 and this conflict resolution group wants to ignore all that and give Gunns a license to operate. TAP does not want to engage with them at all. Be aware that any answers you give may be 'cherry-picked' to provide the results they want. This is the firm that interviewed residents for the original IIS. They conducted just 10 interviews in the whole Tamar valley!....

Pulp the Mill says no to Pax Populus........Pilko's inside take on the Gunns/Pax Populus PR push

Bec Gibney set to leave us.....and..... Cundall wait on protest Verdict

......"Gibney was vilified in 2007 after expressing concerns about the impact of the pulp mill on the air and water quality of the Tamar Valley, where she and Bell were raising their young son Zac. The actor said that if the pulp mill was built, she would be forced to leave the Tamar valley and Tasmania. Local bottle shop owner Sam McQuestin – a former Liberal party president and Upper House candidate for the seat of Launceston – accused Ms Gibney of being a "serial complainer" and new arrival whose family made no contribution to the Tasmanian economy.
"I don't begrudge her moving down here to live but I don't think she has a right to tell the rest of us how to live our lives, when she has only come here in the short term," Mr McQuestin said.
The popular Gibney, at the time auditioning for a pilot of the top-rating Packed to the Rafters series, responded with the threat of legal action against Mr McQuestin.
"Here we have yet another attack on the mainlanders, [who are] investing vast amounts of money with a strong belief in the valley's future, only to be boorishly vilified by someone with connections to Gunns," Gibney said in a statement at the time". ...........Read More Here

Cundall article here

Great time at Bicheno.......some news links

Great couple of days catching waves and catching up with the family at Bicheno. Redbill is one of my favourite beaches of all time.
................................................................................

http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/state/agribusiness-and-general/finance/gunns-issue-to-finance-sawmill/2025094.aspx

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/14/3092454.htm

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2010/12/13/193001_tasmania-news.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/13/3091555.htm

Polly Watch

A couple of months ago i argued that the Tasmanian Times had become - "A site dominated by a small band of narrow minded loony lefty mates whose politics are a weird hybrid of social insularism/Hansonism and vigilante environmentalism".

I was subseqently and rather predictably defamed and ridiculed by anonymous posters as TT relaxed its editorial grip on one or two of the sites nastier elements.
At one stage a contributor mocked me because i had argued that some of the extreme left elements were ..."a weird hybrid of social insularism/Hansonism and vigilante environmentalism".

Now with this in mind, read the thread below on TT about same sex marriage-http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/weblog/article/same-sex-marriage-is-public-opinion-a-moral-value/show_comments
Pay attention to the comments by West Tamar Councillor Karl Stevens, particularly post 10 which was his response to high profile HCC greens candidate Corey Peterson. Have a good read and then consider my comments above about socially insular enviro-lefties who embrace elements of Hansonism.

Stevens comment (#10) is one of the most bizzare, illogical and offensive comments on the rights and role of Gay people in a political party i have read or heard anywhere let alone made by an elected public official who ironically hitched a ride into office on a greens ticket. See below....
.........As somebody said to me recently 'we have peak oil, peak debt, climate change, a global financial crisis, and all the greens want to do is marry each other.’ By all means, undermine the battle for Tasmanias forests yet again. Forget about the human rights abuses right here in Tasmania yet again. Instead you can all concentrate on this boutique campaign to marry in churches.We all now how abusive churches are don’t we? The ‘gay rights’ section of the greens has consistently subverted the environmental goals of the party. Whats ‘gay rights’ got to do with trees? Nothing. Why can’t the ‘gay rights’ activists stand on their own two feet for a change without clinging to mainstream environmentalists for a free ride? - (West Tamar Councillor Karl Stevens)

I also fear that Councillor Stevens comments might reflect badly on the people of the northern region.
Yes, I was one of the naieve souls who voted for Stevens. Corey Peterson I hope you can forgive me. Councillor Stevens views are not representative of the people who live in our region.

I would have like to post this comment to the Tasmanian Times thread in question however these days i have little faith in the Tasmanian Times ability or willingness to publish my comment impartially and without fear or favour as the website promises.

Check out more of Councillor Stevens bizzare comments on homosexuality Here.
....."Doctor (Bob) Brown confidently asserts, ‘Mother Nature created the same-sex phenomenon’. I must say that is only partially correct. We know for a fact that ‘endocrine disrupting’ herbicides like atrazine play havoc on the human reproductive system. I quote directly from researcher Tyrone Hayes.....(West Tamar Councillor Karl Stevens)

Gunns Logging company sends in PR firm to do dirty work. Tamar Locals go on the front foot......read how Gunns PR people regard pulp mill opponents and strategies used by corporate PR firms

A company called Pax Populus acting on behalf of Gunns LTD, has very recently begun contacting key stakeholders opposed to Gunns proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill.

Along with Tim Offor (the author of The Public and “Not in My Backyard” - Strategies for Engaging Angry Communities -Here ) Barbara Sharp serves as a director of Pax Populus which is the new version of 'Offor Sharp and Associates management and communication consultancy', a company that formerly advised on some of the region’s toughest stakeholder issues for the past 15 years.

Word is Barbara Sharp will be in Tasmania next Thurs and Friday in an attempt to interview individuals, Tamar Valley anti-pulp mill groups like TAP, Friends of the Tamar, Pulp the Mill and other key stakeholders opposed to Gunns proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill.
Apparently Barbara will be aiming to do around three dozen interviews during her short stay. Geez i'd hate to be the last interview!
However the Pax Populus Tassie PR drive may not be as busy as Barbara Sharp might have anticipated.
Apparently Sharp's initial advances have been met with a fair degree of cynicism and suspicion from battle hardened Tamar Valley locals. Word is locals are insulted that after 6 years Gunns management still refuse to speak to locals directly and that despite Managing Director Greg L'Estranges attempts to cultivate the image of a cuddlier logging company, Gunns continue to prefer propaganda and slick, expensive PR over genuine bilateral discussions with the Tasmanian people.
Pax Populus under their previous brand of Offor Sharpe and Associates played a part in Gunns’ IIS.
In their research Offor Sharp and Associates conducted a whopping 5 face to face interviews with residents at Rowella and 5 telephone interviews with local government etc.
See links for more info.

PILKO

http://www.paxpopulus.com/index.php/about/

http://www.paxpopulus.com/index.php/our-people/

http://www.offorsharp.com/downloads/nimbypaper.pdf

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MEDIA RELEASE- Pulp the Mill.

Last week, Lucy Landon-Lane (spokeswoman for Pulp the Mill) was contacted by “Social Sustainability Advisors” firm Pax Populus on behalf of Gunns, requesting a interview as part of a series of meetings with members of the public about the proposed pulp mill.

“When I questioned the firm about the nature of the interview, who was to be involved and what questions would be asked, I was told emphatically that these details were not available to me. When discussing the fact that this firm, under its previous name of Offor Sharp and Associates, had been involved in Gunns Integrated Impact Statement, I enquired why only 10 people had then been interviewed. I politely noted that this number was hardly sufficient for best practice and was met with outright anger.

“I have decided to boycott the meeting with Pax Populus because the time to consult with the community was back when the project was being assessed by the RPDC. Gunns withdrew from the RPDC process when the project was deemed “critically non-compliant” in areas of social and environmental impacts. Withdrawal from the RPDC and subsequent creation of the Pulp Mill Assessment Act (PMAA) removed all legitimacy from the proposed mill. Without due diligence and an independent and thorough assessment process, and honest actions by the company to address social concerns there will never be a social licence for this mill. No amount of community consultations will change that. These current interviews are another example of a lack of transparent process that Gunns chooses to undertake.

“Gunns has an unfortunate history of corporate dishonesty, and this clearly is another token effort that does not meet best practice. Gunns need to understand that there are no grounds for the community to compromise on this issue, and there is no reason to meet with Pax Populus. When Gunns takes real action to address the community’s concerns (which have been totally ignored over the past 5 years), and the PMAA is repealed, I will be willing to engage.” she said.

for more information contact Lucy Landon-Lane 0417 105390

http://www.pulpthemill.org/

L'Estrange continues to threaten native forest logging if Gunns dont get their way

According to AM's Felicity Ogilvie, - "The peace deal between the Tasmanian logging industry and environmentalists could get Gunns the finance it needs by easing investors concerns about community opposition to the mill".

Read More Here and Here

Perhaps if Felicity or someone else from the ABC had attended this weeks 520 strong anti-pulp mill turnout at the smallish Tailrace venue in the Tamar Valley, she may have written otherwise or at the very least included a representative from Tamar Valley based anti-pulp mill groups in this article.

If you have finished your lunch and think you can stomach 15 minutes of weasel words watch this. Tasmanian premier cold on Gunns Tamar Mill prospects.......and..........Is Paul Oosting still effective in the role of TWS Pulp Mill Campaigner? Read the link to his latest interview on ABC's AM wesbite and have your say here

Airlie Ward on ABC Tasmania's Stateline interviews the three political leaders - Bartlett, Mckim and Hodgman.- Here

Judging by Premier David Bartlett's (well....uh....oh..ah) evasive response to Airlie Ward on whether the Tamar Valley Pulp Mill will be built he clearly does not believe it will ever get built.

Premier Bartlett explained that he hoped what is one of the most expensive and invasive private industrial projects ever seen in Tasmania because it would give "certainty to forest contractors"?

Yes thats right folks, Premier Bartlett supports the one of the largest industrial projects in the Southern hemisphere and a potential game changer for so many residents and existing businesses in the Tamar Valley because it might benefit a small minority sector of the overall Tasmanian workforce?


This is an extraordinary watering down of the basis for the Labor Government's support of the pulp mill.

Gone are Lennon Labor's promises about what would now be a joint foreign owned pulp mill. A Pulp Mill proposal that has already cost the jobs of hundreds of Tasmanians before a brick has been laid on the mill site.
What has happened to Paul Lennon's bizzare promise of

• 2 000 long-term permanent jobs and an extra $6.7 billion being added to the Tasmanian economy?
• Economic growth and security to Tasmania, particularly to our regions. $6.7 billion increase in Tasmania's economic output over the next two and a half decades.
• By 2030, northern Tasmania alone will be $460 million better off because of the pulp mill.
• The pulp mill will generate almost $900 million in extra Commonwealth and State taxes.
• Each household is likely to have $870 extra each year to spend because of the pulp mill; $870 more every year to every household in Tasmania to help out families and to make life easier for Tasmanian families. Every month, every household in Tasmania will have more than $70 extra to make ends meet, every month of every year. That is a measure of the influence this project can have on the quality of life and living standards for all Tasmanian families. That is the real benefit that the pulp mill will bring to our State.
• An extra $100 million in accommodation and hospitality spending during the construction period. Financial benefits to the whole Tasmanian economy, to all regions of our State, and to every Tasmanian family.
• The pulp mill will provide 3 400 direct and indirect jobs throughout Tasmania during its building phase, including 2 500 on site during the peak of construction and more than 1 600 jobs throughout Tasmania when the mill is fully operating.
• Employment will increase over time and is expected to peak, over the life of the project, at 2 000 extra jobs throughout Tasmania. That is 2 000 families with security to plan for the future. That is 2 000 families who will not have to worry about how they are going to pay the bills or afford to send their children to school or wonder where their next meal is coming from.

I dont know about you folks but my bullshit detector dial has gone off the scale. Can you believe Lennon stood up in the parliament and said this stuff? You would have thought that God had announced he was moving to Tasmania to perform miracles.

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From ABC's AM Website

FELICITY OGILVIE: Having the peace plan work is vital to Gunns in terms of trying to get the finance it needs to get the pulp mill. Will environment groups support the pulp mill?

PAUL OOSTING: In terms of projects like Gunns proposed pulp mill in the State, north of the State there are a range of environmental issues still outstanding around that that we do want to see addressed, including its impact on the marine environment. It's been one of the fundamental issues we've been concerned about from day one and that's an issue that is now before the Federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke. And we'll be really watching that process closely to ensure that the public and independent scientists have the opportunity to scrutinise Gunns' impact assessment material.

FELICITY OGILVIE: But if Gunns can bring the mill up to an environmental standard that the Wilderness Society endorse, will environmental groups support the pulp mill in order to protect native forests in Tasmania?

PAUL OOSTING: Well look we're not in the business of endorsing projects, we're in the business of getting environmental protection for the country and that's what we're about as part of this process. It's important to understand that the local community also has serious concerns around issues like odour and so on.

Read the entire Paul Oosting Interview Here