LOG / WOODCHIP
TRUCKS IN TASMANIA - TOURISTS TAKE NOTE
"Minister Green is lazy, negligent and incompetent
on this serious safety issue and it is way past time
that he acted on these avoidable fatal risks to both
drivers and the travelling public," Mr Booth
said.
LAUNCESTON
EXAMINER 10 March 2005... (by subsciption) |
NEWS
TASMANIA OFTEN HEARS OF TASMANIAN LOG TRUCK ACCIDENTS
THAT GO UNREPORTED.
HERE ARE SOME PREVIOUS
TASMANIAN LOG TRUCK ACCIDENTS THAT DID MANAGE TO
MAKE THE NEWS
DESPITE THE TASMANIAN GOVERNMENT'S COVER-UP POLICY
|
Two trucks roll
10 March 2005
TWO timber industry prime movers crashed in
separate accidents south of Burnie yesterday,
prompting warnings by a local resident and the
Greens that such accidents were inevitable.
Both drivers were injured and taken to hospital.
The first accident happened about 7.45a.m. on
Mount Rd when a Volvo B-double carrying a load
of woodchips from Gunns'
Hampshire mill to the woodchip pile at the Burnie
port crashed near the Cascade Rd turn-off. Paramedics
arrived at the scene to find the driver, believed
to be a Waratah man in his 50s, outside the
vehicle with serious facial and upper body injuries.
........ For most of the day traffic between
Ridgley and Burnie was diverted through West
Mooreville Rd, where the second truck accident
happened about 2.30p.m. The truck, believed
to be co-owned by logging contractor David Wright,
was heading north when it left the road and
the driver, a Burnie man, was taken to hospital
for observation.......
THE
ADVOCATE... |
 |
==============
Two truck crashes spark more speed limit calls
10 March 2005
Two timber industry trucks crashed in separate accidents
south of Burnie yesterday, prompting warnings by a
local resident and the Greens that such accidents
were inevitable. ....... Greens infrastructure spokesman
Kim Booth reiterated a long- standing call for Infrastructure
Minister Bryan Green to implement a maximum load height
and speed limit on timber vehicles as a matter of
urgency. "Minister Green
is lazy, negligent and incompetent on this serious
safety issue and it is way past time that he acted
on these avoidable fatal risks to both drivers and
the travelling public," Mr Booth said.
LAUNCESTON
EXAMINER 10 March 2005... (by subsciption)
==============
Log Trucks Falling Like Ninepins
........Mr Booth also reminded that professional engineer
Wolfgang Wissman advised the government over 18 months
ago of inherent design flaws
in these vehicles and load height and speed
problems that rendered them highly unstable but despite
constant pressure from the Greens, the government
has refused to act and adopt Mr Wissman’s interim
solution of limiting load heights to 3.8 metres and/or
reduce maximum speed to 80 kilometres per hour. ........
“Minister Bryan Green and the Lennon Labor government
is on notice that if a tragedy occurs and a school
bus or Winnebago is taken out by an unstable log truck
then the people of Tasmania will hold them to account.”
“Minister Green may well be fronting up in the
coroners court before long to explain his lack of
action if he continues to fail in his duty to protect
lives. Let us hope he wakes up before it is too late.”
Mr Booth said.
TAS GREENS...
==============
TASMANIA, THE PREMIER LOG TRUCK
STATE OF AUSTRALIA
Because of the culture of cover up of
Tasmanian forest practices, log truck accidents are
increasingly rarely reported and statistics are very
hard to get hold of. The word "accident"
is not used by the industry, code words or numbers
are used instead. Log trucks are notorious for tipping
over and drivers are pushed to the limit to meet industry
demands and oppression...... [and yes, they
lined up to kiss little Johnie's butt]
NEWS TASMANIA
JANUARY 2005...
• SEE
SOME OF THE PROBLEMS WITH DRIVING IN TASMANIA...
• SEE
SOME MORE OF THE PROBLEMS WITH DRIVING IN TASMANIA...
• TAS
GREENS... Truck Safety Blind Spot For Minister Green.
All Care And No Responsibility Attitude Continues
The Tasmanian Greens today further pursued Minister
Green over his inaction on addressing Heavy Vehicle
safety, questioning the minister, whether Coronial
inquiries into recent fatalities involving log trucks
rolling or tipping, would be informed of the findings
of independent engineer Wolfgang Wissman into the
likelihood of such events, and if not, why not? Greens
Opposition Infrastructure spokesperson Kim Booth MHA
also questioned the Minister as to whether Transport
Inspectors were attending the scene of all heavy vehicle
roll overs, or only those involving injuries or fatalities,
and further moved a motion calling on the Minister
to provide a copy Mr Wissman’s report into Heavy
Vehicle stability to all drivers, contractors and
industry stakeholders. “The
Minister, Bryan Green, refuses to provide to the parliament
answers to serious questions regarding heavy vehicle
safety, and nor will he address concerns that heavy
vehicle incidents have almost doubled from this time
last year,” Mr Booth said. “There are also
outstanding concerns over whether transport inspectors
are now only inspecting accidents scenes which involve
serious injury or fatalities rather than all accidents
involving heavy vehicles.”...... |
|
Forest protests lift a rung or two
CONSERVATIONISTS used ladders to halt a log
truck in central Hobart yesterday in an otherwise
Princess Mary-themed forestry protest. Nine protesters ran
in front of the truck as it was moving slowly through the
intersection of Macquarie and Elizabeth Sts about midday.
They erected a protest banner before leaving at the request
of police. Another protester, dressed in an animal suit,
later made a show of delaying another log
truck that had stopped at a red light. It was
remeniscent of December, when a lone cyclist halted a log
truck at the intersection.........
HOBART MERCURY... |
Burn-offs loom, concerns raised
10 March 2005
THE annual forest burn-off is about to start, turning the
Coast's normally clean air hazy. The forest industry conducts
burns every autumn to reduce the risk of bushfires and to
promote the regeneration of forests. Musician Philip Nicholas
originally moved to Wynyard for the region's clean air and
water but was turned off by the smokey autumns. He moved
to a bush retreat at Lower Mount Hicks 20 years ago. "The
very first autumn I was here, seeing the amount of wood
smoke passing overhead, something hit me straight away,"
he said yesterday. "Part of my concern comes from a
science background I studied some science at university
and my own feeling is that there must be better ways of
managing the forests. "But aside from my personal views,
I really think that the smoke's impact on Tasmania's tourism
industry must be quite severe. "People
must go home saying, why would we go back to Tasmania?"......
THE
ADVOCATE...
• SMOKE
& FIRE FROM DISCOVER TASMANIA... |
TRAC - Tamar Residents Action Committee
Providing unbiased information to the public on the proposed
establishment of a [Gunns
Ltd ] pulp mill in northern Tasmania. ........ It will
have a significant impact on the very social fabric of our
society with atmospheric emissions alone accounting for
300-kilograms of particulate material each day. There'll
be significant effluent emissions from a four kilometre
outfall pipe at five-mile bluff near george Town. The
effluent will include organochlorines which will contain
dioxins and furans, which bioaccumulate in the sediment.......
TRAC
WEBSITE... |
|
|
| A POLITICICAL
PROFILE - Someone you know? |
Monsters in our midst, says author
Friday, 4 March 2005
They are callous, egotistic and destroy their victims,
but serial killers and rapists are not the only type
of psychopaths. In fact, you could be working with
one. Criminologist John Clarke, a consulting profiler
for NSW Police, said the
majority of psychopaths were not homicidal maniacs,
but worked and lived unchallenged in society.
He's written a book about his work as a consultant
to corporations who call on him to deal with workers
who create problems in their organisations because
they exhibit psychopathic traits. His book, Working
With Monsters, identifies
the psychological tendencies of the workplace psychopath.
Like their violent counterparts they are superficially
charming, have a grandiose sense of self-worth, a
need for excitement, and are pathological liars. "They
have an absolute lack of remorse, a lack of guilt
for what they do," Mr Clarke said. "It's
a parasitic lifestyle, they live off other people,
take credit for other people's work, ... have a sense
of entitlement, are very narcissistic and often exhibit
promiscuous sexual behaviour."
THE
LAUNCESTON EXAMINER... (by subsciption) |
|
PULP FRICTION SILENCES CRITICS
Julie Macken with AAP - 2 March 2005
The controversy over the role of chemicals in Tasmania's
timber industry has provoked an aggressive response, writes
Julie Macken. Life in Tasmania's timber industry looks
so bright investors have to wear shades. The state's biggest
company, Gunns, has just announced a record half-year profit
of $38.7 million and selected the site for its $1 billion
pulp mill. What's more, Gunns hasn't had to worry about
any pesky critics thanks to an Australian first using writs
against critics who have raised concerns about the chemicals
the company uses. Doctors say Gunns' tactic not only endangers
their capacity to speak out in this case, but also threatens
to stymie debate on a range of public health issues. While
not wanting to speak directly about the current court action
against Hobart physician Frank Nicklason and others, the
Australian Medical Association's federal president, Bill
Glasson, says: "Our Hippocratic oath demands we investigate
any possible cause of disease, whatever that may be tobacco,
asbestos or any other concerns. ........ And when the Nicklason
case is heard in the Supreme Court in Victoria some time
this year, there's likely to be evidence showing how industrial-scale
clear-fell logging in Tasmania depends on the use of a host
of chemicals particularly the triazine family including
atrazine and simazine to hinder undergrowth. The World Health
Organisation has classified these chemicals as 2B possibly
carcinogenic. The US Environmental Protection Agency has
recently classified them in the category of "endocrine
disruptor" chemicals that can affect the hormone system........
AUSTRALIAN
FINANCIAL REVIEW - Pulp friction silences critics /
Cost - $3.30 - 1621
words |
POLITICAL COMPETENCE
- TASSIE STYLE
Ken Bacon
[ex LOG TRUCK DRIVER
& Minister
for Tourism], "If
I look after TOURISM the way I looked after LOG TRUCK
DRIVERS then Tasmania is going to be a long way ahead
of the rest of the states,"
THE
ADVOCATE... (23 March 04) |
TT-Line predicts $52m loss
1 March 2005
The troubled Sydney to Devonport ferry service has
been blamed for TT-Line's expected losses of up to
$52 million over the next two years. ......... Tourism
Minister Ken Bacon surprised
many at the hearing when he revealed he had not even
seen Treasury reports on the TT-Line that were ordered
three months ago. "I haven't got across
all the figures yet," he said.......
ABC
NEWS ONLINE...
==============
Halls of invective: Hearing both bad
and ugly but not good
By ELLEN WHINNETT - 2 March 2005
A FLOUNDERING minister, a belligerent bureaucrat and
a sharp-tongued chairman of the board combined to
put on an entertaining performance yesterday as the
TT-Line's finances went under Parliamentary scrutiny.
Tourism Minister Ken Bacon
struggled to stay afloat as he ducked questions about
whether Spirit III would be sold or retained. Fresh
from a two-week trip overseas, Mr
Bacon repeatedly told the committee he did not have
the figures they were after and could not have had
them faxed to him because they were "sensitive".
Perhaps he'd never heard of email.......
HOBART
MERCURY...
==============
Sydney ferry sails $25m into
red
By ELLEN WHINNETT - 2 March 2005
THE embattled Sydney-Devonport ferry will lose $25
million this year. And the twin ferries crossing Bass
Strait between Melbourne and Devonport will lose a
further $10 million -- a reversal of their $7 million
profit the previous year. The bleak figures and $35
million projected loss were laid out yesterday as
government ferry operator TT-Line faced scrutiny in
a parliamentary committee in Hobart. The fiery three-hour
hearing saw Tourism Minister Ken
Bacon fumbling for answers as he admitted he had not
seen a treasury report into the future of the Spirit
III Sydney ferry.......
HOBART
MERCURY...
==============
Tassie ferries could sink Ken Bacon
2 March 2005
Tasmanian minister for tourism, Ken Bacon, has done
it again. Known for looking and acting vacant most
of the time, it is widely held that he only got his
promotion to the ministry by being last man standing
when premier Jim Bacon (no relation) and treasurer
David Crean both retired last year. With only 13 in
the lower house (after providing the speaker) to choose
a nine person ministry from, new premier Paul Lennon
closed his eyes, said a prayer and went for Bacon
ahead of the even worse Brenton Best and three newbies.
Ken Bacon rarely makes news but when he does it is
usually for not really knowing what is going on around
him. ........ Given that the ferry performance has
dominated the news in Tassie for months, one would
expect that the minister would come well briefed and
prepared for the GBE estimates hearing held in Hobart
yesterday. Not Kenny. He hadn’t even read a Treasury
report on the Sydney ferry’s future presented
to the government three weeks ago. He could scarcely
answer a question on the TT Line, not even provide
a personal view. He may as well have not turned up.........
CRIKEY...
|
|
Gunns 20 Website Launches
This is a website with information on one of the biggest
lawsuits ever launched in Australia by a rich industrial
company against ordinary citizens, groups and political
representatives who care about our environmental heritage.
Many people say they now feel frightened about speaking
out against the actions of industries that could damage
our environment, economy and social fabric......
GUNNS20.ORG... |
Tasmania's saw point
Matthew Denholm - February 25, 2005
A TEAM of bureaucrats has spent months trying to draw agreed
boundaries on a series of maps that will determine the future
of vast tracts of Tasmania's unprotected, ancient native
forests. The maps are being drawn up by a group of forestry
advisers from the federal and Tasmanian governments and
will show exactly how John Howard will keep his election
pledge to save 170,000ha of old-growth forests. The detail
will reveal whether the policy was a political sleight of
hand with little conservation value - as claimed by Labor
and conservationists - or a plan that will strike a balance
between saving trees and jobs .......... Back at the Styx
protest camp, protesters are preparing to put their bodies
in the way of logging equipment. "Jai", who won't
give his real name but whose Centrelink card states "client
lives in rainforest", is an industrial abseiler whose
experience abseiling dams and tall buildings will come in
handy for rigging protest platforms in the trees. They are
also potentially putting their future livelihoods on the
line, as demonstrated by the legal action for damages launched
recently by Gunns
Ltd against 20 anti-logging campaigners.
THE
AUSTRALIAN... |
Environmental Groups Unite Against Corporate
Assault On Free Speech
Feb 23 2005
Joint Statement:
Friends of the Earth International, Greenpeace International,
the Rainforest Action Network and the Sierra Club unreservedly
condemn the decision by the Australian woodchip company,
Gunns,
to sue environmentalists and politicians in Australia who
have opposed its role in the logging of old growth forests
in Tasmania. ......... We stand shoulder to shoulder with
our Australian NGO colleagues to oppose this shameful writ
and we demand that Gunns
withdraws it. We believe that responsible companies who
respect the role of civil society in protecting the environment
will firmly oppose this law suit. We therefore call on Gunns
major shareholders and Japanese customers to condemn it
and make it clear that they fully support the democratic
right of communities, NGO's and politicians to peacefully
oppose environmentally and socially destructive activity.
FRIENDS
OF THE EARTH - UK... |
| FOREST VANDAL
ELECTION LIAR & WOODCHIP BARON, PROCURES A CERTIFICATION
THAT TIMBER PRODUCTS COME FROM A TIMBER PLANTATION |
Gunns boasts a greener test pass
By ROHAN WADE - 23 February 2005
TASMANIAN forestry giant Gunns
Ltd yesterday claimed a major boost for its environmental
credentials. It announced that it had become the first
hardwood forestry company to gain four levels of an
internationally recognised accreditation. Announcing
the fourth certificate -- known as a Chain of Custody
Standard -- Gunns
Ltd said it now had third-party verification of
its environmental, economic and social credentials.
....... But the Tasmanian
Greens said the accreditation was inferior and "the
loggers' alternative" to Forest Stewardship Council
certification developed by the World Wildlife Fund.....
HOBART
MERCURY...
============
Chain of Custody [What it means]
11 June 2003
In respect to wood and timber products originating
from certified forests, chain of custody (CoC) is
essentially the process of verifying that the origin
of the certified wood and timber products is indeed
from forests for which there is some form of forest
management certification. In order to provide the
verification, careful tracking of the wood and timber
products is required through all the links of the
supply chain from the forest to the markets in which
the timber or other wood based product carries the
claim. In order to complement the implementation of
the AFS, it is proposed to develop a CoC standard
for use in certifying that wood or timber products
derived from AFS certified forests do indeed come
from such forests. The development process to be used
for the CoC standard will be similar to that adopted
to develop the AFS with a Technical Committee composed
of relevant stakeholders overseeing the drafting of
the standard.
CHAIN
OF CUSTODY...
============
Crony Outfit that Developed the
Chain of Custody Certification
AUSTRALIAN
FORESTRY STANDARDS (AFS) - STEERING COMMITTEE
============
In Australia when Environmental
Credentials are claimed, it doesn't matter about all
this:
• 
• GUNNS
SPRAYING CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER...
• GUNNS
ELECTION LIES...
• POLITICIANS
GUNNS & MONEY... (19 June 2001)
• THE
BOOK OF GAYGUN...
• GUNNS,
PROFITS, MATES and the NATIONAL TRUST...
• GREEN
LEFT... Royal commissioner William Carter confirmed
that Robin
Gray, the then Liberal premier of Tasmania, had
acted “deceitfully and dishonestly” and
had been "misleading and deceptively evasive."
(Robin
Gray is a current director of Gunns
Ltd.)
• FORESTS
UNDER THE GUNNS... (22 July 2001)
• THE
HUBRIS THAT BROUGHT AN ISLAND DYNASTY UNDONE...
(Melboune Age, August 4 2002)
• GUNNS
Ltd, THE FIRST FINALIST TO BE KICKED OUT OF AWARDS
IN 15 YEARS...
• ABC
- 4 CORNERS, LORDS OF THE FORESTS...
• CHANNEL
9 TV / SUNDAY SHOW - TASMANIA FIRE SALE...
• CHANNEL
9 TRANSCRIPT - JOHN GAY: "Well, there's
too many of them [wombats and ring-tailed possums]
and we need to keep them at a reasonable level."
• CHANNEL
9 TV / SUNDAY SHOW - NAME YOUR POISON...
• THE
RAPE OF TASMANIA at the BULLETIN...
• THE
SELLING OUT OF TASMANIA at the MELBOURNE AGE...
• GUNNS
SEARCH at ECO PORTAL... 345 matching documents |
|
| GOVERNMENT
BAD FAITH |
State in breach of logging 'truce'
Matthew Denholm - 22 February 2005
LOGGING of a contentious Tasmanian forest is to begin
only days after locals were told it could be included
in the federal Government's new forest reserves. Road-building
equipment yesterday arrived at the South Sister forest,
near St Marys in the state's northeast, to pave the
way for the logging. t was a shock for locals, who
had put the forest forward for inclusion in a new
170,000ha reserve system promised by John Howard.
Francis Daily, a local doctor fighting to prevent
logging of the forest, said she had been assured by
federal bureaucrats as late as last Friday that South
Sister would be considered for inclusion in the new
reserves. Tasmanian Greens leader Peg Putt accused
the state Labor Government and its forestry arm, Forestry
Tasmania, of deliberately fast-tracking logging of
South Sister to prevent its inclusion. "The unseemly
haste to get machinery in and begin work towards logging
this tourism icon is an example of Forestry
Tasmania trying to outmanoeuvre any protection
which could come in John Howard's forests package,"
Ms Putt said. This was an act of "bad faith",
given promises contentious areas would not be logged
until the federal-state negotiations on the new reserves
were concluded, she said. The talks are still under
way. Dr Daily said the state had violated the spirit
of an unofficial logging "ceasefire" in
place during the negotiations. "It is pretty
low what they've done, given that these areas are
under consideration and yet the Tasmanian Government
is just bulldozing them without even finishing the
consultation process with the local community,"
she said.........
THE
AUSTRALIAN...
================
Copy of letter from a South Sister
resident
Janine Kilgour - (received 22 February 2005)
Got to www.southsister.org
and read for yourselves the danger that Forestry
Tasmania has put the local residents in. Not one
major media service will come out and cover the atrocious
story of what may lay ahead for St Marys residents
and wildlife. Following is a letter sent to every
tv news program, major newspaper, and anywhere else
that I have come across. These people are in
desperate need of support, please help if you can,
by going to the website for all information. This
is the umpteenth email I have sent, and not one has
replied.
To the Editor,
I am not sure if it has come to your attention, (letters
have been written to your paper on the subject),
regarding the fight to save St Marys Sister Mountain
in Tasmania from being logged. This is
tardy story highlighting the inadequate enforcement
of the forestry laws in Tasmania, and the total
arrogance and spite shown towards the local people.
After being told their mountain was on the list
to be 60% selectively cleared, the locals paid for
various geologists, geomorphologists, entomologists,
soils experts and more to view the land and its suitability
to being logged. They have also applied for conservation
under John Howards promised policy to protect 170,000
hectares of important bio-diversity hotspots, which
the Sister Mountain is highly recognised as. The Sister
Mountain is a huge water reservoir supplying town
water and hydro power to others. Indeed a very
clean way of living. It is also the site of an old
mine, abandoned because of the high volume of water
interrupting operations and making them dangerous.
Grave warnings are given from many experts, (all documents
can be viewed on www.southsister.org),
that the area would be at potential risk of landslides
if the understory of the forest is disturbed and stating
that residents lives will be placed at considerable
risk. Never before found species of moths have recently
been discovered, at risk of extinction before
anyone even knows anything about them. The correct
forestry plan has never been given to the local community
and their requests for one were sneered at.
Their public audit of questions and concerns have
never been answered. Today the (neither cleaned nor
sterilised as required and on film) massive
excavators turned up, protesters were there, police,
fire brigade, Forestry
Tasmania, but strangely enough no public media,
even though the people requested their appearance.
What has happened to democracy in this country? The
people of Tasmania live in fear full stop. And
no Australian media is bothering to tell their shocking
stories as they occur and could be halted. Please
send some reporters out to this area and cover their
Australian story. Nobody can help if nobody knows,
and when we lose the right to information, we eventually
lose our democracy.
Contact for South Sister, Dr. Frances Daily, (03)
63722 776, fdaily@bigpond.com.au
The people are camping on the mountain tonight, awaiting
tomorrows trauma.
================
Previous letter
HELP NEEDED
URGENTLY - SOS FOR THE SOUTH SISTER |
|
GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP OF THE CHILDREN OF TODAY WHO
WILL LIKELY BE THE BENEFICIARIES OF GLOBAL WARMING |
Whatever
happened to www.StudentsForForests.com ? http://www.StudentsForForests.com
By Gordon Craven - 16 February 2005
From a distant memory, StudentsForForests.com
was the project of some students at Taroona
High School. As Taroona
High School is a Tasmanian Government State School,
speculation runs wild as to the demise of a project
that was perhaps not complimentary of the Tasmanian
Government's Forest Policy. Anyhow here is a commendable
internet project by a group of students at Punchbowl
Public School Sydney NSW Australia, which won
an Award,
presented by the NSW Minister for Education and Aboriginal
Affairs. Named TREES
ARE OUR FUTURE, its pages that include The
Issue, Trees
in Danger, Futureworld
and Interview
with Peter Garrett depict the Punchbowl student's
perception of what is happening to some forests in
Australia. Which forests...?
FEEDBACK
HERE...
===============
POSTSCRIPT - 18 February 2005
Worrying Government Censorship of Australia's Children
SINCE the publication of this story 2 days
ago, the original website linked to TREES
ARE OUR FUTURE at http://www.TreesAreOurFuture.com
(WHOIS
check) (website
still available without images at the MSN "Cached
pages links") was taken offline at domain
level. It has apparently suffered the same fate as
StudentsForForests.com.
When that happened the News Tasmania links to the
Trees website were changed (yesterday) to point
to the NSW Department of Education who also published
the website on its server (TREES
ARE OUR FUTURE, some its pages The
Issue, Trees
in Danger and Futureworld).
Now, the Trees pages on that NSW Government
website have also been taken down, including the Award,
(presented by the NSW Minister for Education and Aboriginal
Affairs) page, thus, silencing the children's
obvious concerns for their future. The 2004 NSW Government
Annual Schools Web Design Awards, Winners Page is
HERE
which has had Punchbowl Public School REMOVED as of
TODAY. Here is some of YESTERDAY'S list:
* Winner - Five Mile Tree Public School
* Runner up - Seaforth Public School
* Highly commended - Leura Public School
* Commended - Punchbowl Public
School - SCREENSHOT OF GOVERNMENT
PAGE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST
* Encouragement award - Mona Vale Public School
* Encouragement award - Granville Public School
===============
Some of the Punchbowl NSW children's
comments that could be viewed on the Trees Are
Our Future website before censorship:
|
•
|
"Our
World's Nature is in great danger. People
don't realise what they have until they lose
it all and end up in regret. In this case we
might end up dying." |
|
•
|
"One
of the great ways we can help our environment
is to tell others what is happening to threaten
our future world." |
|
•
|
"Trees
help reduce global warming. Global Warming is
dangerous for the world. Scientists believe
it is caused by pollution in the atmosphere
being trapped causing a greenhouse effect. This
makes the climate hotter. Temperatures are rising.
This effects the environment, and scientists
are worried that it might cause flooding or
other catastrophes if we don't get it under
control. Trees help control it because they
clean the carbon pollution from our atmosphere
that is trapping in too much heat." |
|
•
|
"Nowadays,
we are being led by our government. Although
we have freedom of speech, the government always
has a stronger voice than ours. That's why we
must make ourselves heard!" |
| THE
WEBSITE IS STILL AVAILABLE without images at
the MSN Search - CLICK ON "Cached Page"
links |
===============
Hon. Dr Andrew John REFSHAUGE, MP
- Member Profile is... HERE
Dr Refshauge was the NSW Minister for Education that
presented the Punchbowl
Public School Sudents with their Award.
You may want to pass on some comment or questions
to him.
• CURRENT
NSW Minister for Education and Training, The Hon.
Carmel Mary TEBBUTT
• PETER
GARRETT (Federal Member of Parliament for the
seat of Kingsford Smith)
• Punchbowl
Public School details @ NSW Dept. Education or
HERE
• More
about the Annual Schools Web Design Awards
Other Kids Environment Websites
• ECOKIDS
ONLINE
• KIDS
FOR THE FORESTS
• Center
for Children’s Health and the Environment |
|
| GLOBAL WARMING
- Even if it's a myth, should children's concerns
be gagged? |
Scientists find Southern Ocean cooler
Thursday, 17 February , 2005 - Reporter:
Annie Guest
MARK COLVIN: Australian scientists have returned from
their latest Antarctic expedition with news of dramatic
changes in sea temperatures. They've found the deepest
levels of the Southern Ocean are cooler than at any
other time on record and that the shift has been widespread.
Ocean conditions and the global climate are closely
linked and scientists say the latest findings could
be evidence of climate change, but they need more
work before they can rule out natural temperature
fluctuations.......
ABC's
PM...
Crops face extinction in global warming
By Stephanie Peatling - February 4, 2005
Australia faces an ever-shrinking water supply, the
extinction of plant and animal species and the loss
of billions of dollars from a less productive agriculture
sector, says a submission to an international global
warming conference. A joint presentation by the Australian
Greenhouse Office, the Bureau of Meteorology and the
CSIRO said the 2002-03 drought cost Australia 1.6
per cent of its gross domestic product - about $10
billion - and about 70,000 jobs. The agriculture industry
already had to adapt to extreme climate variations,
the submission to the British conference said, and
"that situation would get worse with a drier
climate and more droughts"......
SYDNEY
MORNING HERALD...
Global warming can't be ignored: UN
Many climate scientists say that floods, storms and
droughts will become more frequent and that climate
change is the most severe long-term threat to the
planet's life support systems. Rising temperatures
could force up ocean levels, swamping coasts and low-lying
Pacific islands, and drive thousands of species to
extinction by 2100, but full proof is elusive.......
ABC
ONLINE...
Life on Earth snuffed out by global
warming
Leigh Dayton, Science writer - January 22, 2005
SUFFOCATING global warming is to blame for the worst
mass-extinction on Earth, according to international
researchers tracking the cause of the "Great
Dying" 250 million years ago. Until now, circumstantial
evidence suggested that an asteroid wiped out more
than 90 per cent of all marine life and almost 75
per cent of all land plants and animals, like that
which took out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago......
THE
AUSTRALIAN...
Global warming 'threatens Earth with
mass extinction'
June 20 2003
Global warming over the next century could trigger
a catastrophe to rival the worst mass extinction in
the history of the planet, scientists have warned.
Researchers at Bristol University have discovered
that a mere 6 degrees of global warming was enough
to wipe out up to 95 per cent of the species which
were alive on earth at the end of the Permian period,
250 million years ago.....
SYDNEY
MORNING HERALD...
Stop John Howard walking away from
global warming - sign our petition now.
February 2005
* Sea levels and global temperatures are rising steadily.
* The World Health Organisation now officially recognises
global warming as the direct cause of 150,000 human
deaths in 2000.
* UK Government Chief Scientist, Sir David King, recently
advised that the biggest world threat is global warming,
not terrorism.
GREENPEACE...
===============
• TASMANIA'S
CONTRIBUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING... |
|
| JAPANESE PAPER
GIANTS APPEAR TO SUPPORT THE GUNNS Ltd VANDAL |
Brown wages anti-logging campaign
in Japan
14 February 2005
Greens leader Bob Brown has taken his anti-logging
campaign to Japan, saying its paper companies' imports
of Australian woodchips are rapidly destroying native
forests in Tasmania. "What is happening in Tasmania
is so unnecessary. We live in a world where forests
are rapidly diminishing everywhere," Senator
Brown said in Tokyo. Earlier, he tried to hold meetings
with Japanese paper firms Oji
Paper, Nippon
Paper Industries and Mitsubishi
to discuss the logging issue but they turned down
his request for talks. In separate letters to Senator
Brown, the Japanese companies said they declined his
invitation due to a pending lawsuit against him and
other environmental activists by Australia's biggest
forestry firm Gunns
Limited for "corporate vilification"
and disruption of logging operations. Some 80 per
cent of woodchip exports from Tasmania's native forest
logging operations are shipped to Japan......
ABC
ONLINE...
===============
Japan firms taken to task over Tasmania
logging
By ERIC JOHNSTON - 15 February 2005
KYOTO -- Despite promises from Japanese corporations
to halt logging in Tasmania's ancient forests, destruction
of giant eucalyptus trees and one of the world's most
unique ecosystems continues, a member of the Australian
Green Party warned Sunday. Bob Brown, a senator since
1996 and one of Australia's most well-known environmental
activists, has been fighting to stop the logging of
Tasmania's giant eucalyptus trees, which can soar
to more than 90 meters in height and are often more
than 18 meters in diameter. The trees, in Tasmania's
Styx Valley, protect a diverse ecosystem on the forest
floor, including many rare and endangered plants and
animals. Scientists estimate there could be hundreds
of undiscovered species living in the forest, while
the more romantically inclined wonder if the Tasmanian
tiger, supposedly extinct since 1936, might still
be lurking in remote areas of the valley. "Each
year, 5 million tons of Tasmanian forest are logged
and turned into wood chips that are sold to paper
mills in Japan, South Korea and China," Brown
said. Only trees more than 85 meters tall are protected.
Mitsubishi
Paper Mills Ltd. (also http://web.infoweb.ne.jp/mpm/eng/index-e.html),
Oji
Paper Co., and Nippon
Paper Industries Co. purchase nearly 90 percent
of that amount from Gunns
Ltd., the Australian company that does the actual
logging. There is currently a suit, in which Brown
is involved, against Gunns
to halt the logging. Last
year, in a letter to international environmental nongovernmental
organizations, Mitsubishi Paper promised to stop buying
Tasmanian wood chips. Brown, however, said
that promise has yet to be carried out. Brown wrote
to all three firms in mid-January, seeking a meeting
this week in Tokyo. ........ Various government and
media-sponsored polls show that 70 percent to 80 percent
of Australians oppose the logging........
THE
JAPAN TIMES...
===============
Brown snubbed by Japan paper giants
By RICHARD SMITH - 15 February 2005
JAPANESE papermakers refused to meet Senator Bob Brown
this week because he is a defendant in legal action
taken by Gunns
Ltd. Senator Brown was in Japan to participate
in the formation of the Asia Pacific Greens Network
in Kyoto. He contacted Mitsubishi
Corporation, Nippon
Paper Industries and Oji
Paper - the three Japanese companies making paper
using Tasmanian hardwood woodchips. Speaking at the
Foreign Correspondents' Club in Tokyo yesterday, Senator
Brown said each company sent virtually identical letters
declining his invitation to meet. He was told, he
said, it would be inappropriate to meet him while
Gunns
Ltd is suing him and 19 other conservationists
- known as the Gunns 20 - for $6.3 million for "vilifying"
the company. Senator Brown told Japanese and foreign
journalists the Gunns
action would "backfire on them". He said
there was no legal basis for the Japanese companies
not to see him. He was entitled to speak out as a
Member of Parliament. "I speak for millions of
Australians, and opinion polls show 85 per cent want
this logging to stop," he said. Australia was
a free, open and democratic society. "I
am surprised that the Japanese paper-making companies
have considered legal action, with no outcome, a means
for not meeting a Member of Parliament from Australia
representing the majority view in Australia on this
issue," he said........
HOBART
MERCURY...
===============
ASK THE PAPER GIANTS FOR YOURSELF
WHAT THEIR POSITION IS...
• INQUIRY
FORM - CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP AT MITSUBISHI
• EMAIL
- OJI PAPER
• CONTACT
- NIPPON PAPER GROUP
• CONTACT
- MITSUBISHI MOTORS AUSTRALIA (Boycott the new
Mitsubishi
Magna for its corporate parent breaking a promise???)
|
|
| TOXIC TASMANIA
HITS THE NEWS YET AGAIN |
Drinking water scare
By PHIL BECK
12 February 2005
A HERBICIDE once linked to cancer has been found in
Orford's water supply for the second time in six months.
A sample taken from the Prosser River on January 18
found simazine present at more than double the level
found in a sample taken on July 28 last year. Public
Health Director Roscoe Taylor said yesterday herbicide
pollution of water was unacceptable and a full investigation
was under way to identify the source........
HOBART
MERCURY...
===============
• JANUARY
05's TOXIC TASMANIA...
• .....This state is neither
clean nor green - in fact Tasmania has the highest
incidence of cancer in a country, Australia, that
has one of the highest incidences of cancer in the
world..... WATER
TASMANIA...
• TASMANIAN
AQUA COCKTAIL - More than H2O...
===============
MORE ON TOXIC TASMANIA
Copy of Letter to Tasmania's Primary
Industries Feedback
07/02/2005
By JONATHON POLLARD.
I AM A NEW RESIDENT TO LEGANA, LAUNCESTON AND I RENT
A SMALL HOUSE DIRECTLY OPPOSITE AN APPLE ORCHARD. I
HAVE ALREADY MADE COMPLAINTS TO THE ORCHARD MANAGER
AND STAFF CONCERNING UNREASONABLE SPRAY DRIFT THAT
HAS LEFT MY WIFE AND VERY YOUNG CHILDREN IN A DESPERATE
SITUATION. MY WIFE CURRENTLY HAS NO TRANSPORT AND
IS SUBJECT TO ENDURE THE SPRAYING OF THE ORCHARD BY
CLOSING UP ALL THE DOORS AND WINDOWS. MY WIFE
HAS DEVELOPED SKIN PROBLEMS SINCE TENANCY AS A RESULT
OF THE CHEMICAL SPRAYING. THREE TIMES I HAVE
SEEN MY LITTLE GIRL DEVELOP 'ITCHY EYES' AND A SKIN
RASH IMMEDIATELY AFTER SPRAYING HAS BEEN CONDUCTED
ON THE ORCHARD. AFTER CONTACTING MONTAGUE ORCHARDS
LEGANA MANAGER, (name withheld) IN RELATION TO SPRAY
CONTAMINANT, I WAS INFORMED OF THE USE OF 'LORSBAN'
WHICH IS A ŚCHLOROPYRIFOS‚ BASED CHEMICAL. AFTER OBTAINING
A MSDS FOR THE CONTAMINANT, I WAS HORRIFIED TO READ
THAT IT IS KNOWN TO CAUSE EYE, SKIN, RESPIRATORY AND
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM PROBLEMS. MY YOUNGEST
GIRL IS 4 WEEKS OLD TODAY. SHE IS HAVING SLIGHT RESPIRATORY
PROBLEMS. I AM VERY UPSET AND IN A DIFFICULT SITUATION,
AS TO BREAK THE 12 MONTH LEASE ON THE PROPERTY IS
TO MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT TO OBTAIN A GOOD RESIDENTIAL
ADDRESS, NOT TO MENTION THIS WOULD JUST PASS THE BUCK
TO SOMEONE ELSE TO DEAL WITH. (Name withheld)
INFORMED ME THAT PRIMARY INDUSTRIES REGULATIONS REQUIRE
SPRAYS ONLY TO BE APPLIED DURING 6AM TO 7AM, THROUGH
OBSERVATIONS MADE BY MY WIFE AND MYSELF, THIS HAS
NOT BEEN ADHERED TO. AFTER RETURNING HOME ON DAYS
OF SPRAYING, A BITTER TASTE IS APPARENT EVEN AT 10PM
AT NIGHT. THE ORCHARD IS CLEARLY FAR TO CLOSE TO A
RESIDENTIAL AREA AND THE RESULT IS A VERY BAD HEALTH
SITUATION FOR LEGANA RESIDENTS. I INTEND TO MAKE MORE
ENQUIRIES TO LEGANA ORCHARDS OVER 'WHAT ELSE THEY
ARE USING AS WELL AS WHAT ELSE HAS BEEN SPRAYED ON
THE ORCHARD'. I WOULD LIKE SOME IMMEDIATE ACTION CONCERNING
THIS PROBLEM, AND COPIES OF THIS LETTER ARE BEING
SENT TO OTHER LOCAL MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AS WELL
AS TO THE LOCAL MEDIA. MY WIFE AND I CAME TO TASMANIA
FOR SOME CLEAN AIR AND WATER FOR OUR CHILDREN. WE
ARE NOW SORELY DISAPPOINTED AND 'EXTREMELY' UPSET
OVER WHAT WE SEE AS A DANGEROUS HEALTH SITUATION THAT
NEEDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION.
YOURS SINCERELY
JONATHON POLLARD
DRAFTSMAN CB&M DESIGN SOLUTIONS
LAUNCESTON
*NOTE*
I EXPECT YOU TO DISREGARD THIS EMAIL LETTER BASED
ON YOUR HANDLING OF THE FORESTRY SPRAYING DILEMMA
STEVE KONS IS DESPERATELY TRYING TO IGNORE. HOWEVER
THIS WILL NOT GO AWAY QUICKLY AND NEITHER WILL THE
ACCUMULATING PROBLEMS AND EFFECTS OF TASMANIA'S DECISION
TO ALLOW WHOLESALE POISONING OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND
ITS RESIDENTS. |
|
Saw losers
9 February 2005 - LEO SCHOFIELD
We pretend to love trees yet cheerfully chop them down for
woodchips. We'll be sorry when the Nullarbor consumes us
all.........
Ironically, we tut-tut about the destruction of South American
and South-East Asian rainforests and yet ignore the appalling
situation in Tasmania where ancient forests are deracinated,
priceless timber chipped and flogged off at a lousy $11
a tonne to make cardboard boxes for takeaway sushi. But
hey, it’s OK. It’s not logging anymore –
it’s forestry. And they’re replacing those ancient
trees with brand new ones that will grow faster and be ready
to chop down in a few years. To keep animals from munching
on the juicy saplings, they’re scattering a great new
poison called 1080 that puts paid to pesky possums, even
if in the process birds eat the carrion and cark it, leaving
all those bugs and beetles that were our feathered friends’
natural source of food to destroy trees instead........
THE
BULLETIN MAGAZINE... |
Media Release
Heidi Douglas
Film Maker and Gunns 20 Defendant
5/2/2005
STANDING ROOM ONLY AT GUNNS20 FILM NIGHT
240 people last night attended the first major fundraising
event for defendants being sued by Gunns
Ltd . Films screened included a short film by
award-winning film maker Heidi Douglas, and The Battle of
Bakers Creek, by Brian Dimmick, which covered the community
conflict over logging in Lucaston, southern Tasmania. Both
filmmakers are being sued by Gunns for filming environmental
protests in Tasmania. Also screening was the famous McLibel
documentary that followed the groundbreaking UK court case
between McDonald's and a postman & a gardener from London.
The trial ran for two and a half years and became the longest-ever
English court case, ultimately costing McDonalds millions.
Unlike big corporations who have the wealth to afford massive
legal fire-power, ordinary citizens like us have to band
together and support each other during such a stressful
time, and last night s huge turnout really gives us heart
that the community is behind the defendants , Ms Douglas
said today. We cannot, and will not remain silent even in
the current climate of fear and litigation, and the films
we screened last night celebrated the hope and triumph of
the human spirit and free speech over such incredible adversity
and odds. Freedom of speech identified the link between
asbestos and lung disease, stopped slavery, and keeps governments
and big business responsible to the community. If free speech
is lost, then social responsibility will be lost too The
fundraising event took place at upstairs to Sirens restaurant
in Hobart. There was standing room only left at the first
of many fundraising events for the Gunns20.
(End: More info. Phone Heidi Douglas on mobile 0401 092
570,) |
Indonesia: New APP Wood Procurement Policy
1 February 2005
Asia Pulp and Paper’s (APP) has announced that its
new pulp mill in Hainan will not accept wood from old-growth
forests or tropical forests that have high conservation
value. As part of the new policy,
APP has cancelled orders of wood chips from Tasmania and
southern Australia. The company also announced
its intentions to only support legal and environmentally
sound plantation development and wood supply in Cambodia.
FOREST
CERTIFICATION WATCH... |
|
