Outgoing Australian Government Leaves 50 year Environment Disaster to Tasmania
In all probability there will be a new Australian Government before the end of the year. And in all likelihood it will be a Labor one. For me, it can't come too soon. I can't wait to see the back of that Bush arse-licker Honest John Howard and his pack of utter bastards that profess to be running the country. But before they go (and it looks like its going to be a resounding defeat) Malcolm Turnbull - the so-called Environment Minister, has left Australia a legacy - a Pulp Mill to pollute Tasmania for the next fifty years. Well done Mal! You've made sure we'll remember you as that bastard that robbed us of the old-growth forests. From The Sydney Morning Herald
Gunns is the company that dominates Tasmania's forestry industry. Tasmania is the only Australian state that still clear-fells its native forests, turns its eucalypts into chips and incinerates the rest.
Two days ago Turnbull, as John Howard's political surrogate, signed a piece of paper. It was headed:
Commonwealth of Australia.Decision to Approve the Taking of an Action.
It reads: "Pursuant to section 133 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, I, Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, approve the taking of the following action:
"to construct and operate a bleached Kraft pulp mill at Bell Bay, Tasmania, and associated infrastructure (EPBC 2007/3385).
"… by Gunns Limited, subject to the conditions set out in Annexure 1.
"This approval has effect for:
"Sections 18 and 18A (listed threatened species and communities); Sections 20 and 20A (listed migratory species); Sections 23 and 24A (Commonwealth marine areas) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999."This approval has effect until 31 December, 2057.
"Dated this 4th day of October, 2007.
"[signed, squiggle signature]."
Note the binding date of the length of the approval. Fifty years. Gunns Ltd now has watertight legal standing from the Australian people, courtesy of a government and a prime minister so thoroughly on the nose with voters they're headed for imminent electoral defeat, to go on destroying, for the next half century, what remains of Tasmania's magnificent old-growth forests for woodchipping fodder for a $2 billion pulp paper mill in the Tamar Valley, south of Launceston.
And you thought this sort of thing only went on in countries like Myanmar?
Malcolm Lambe
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Reader Comments (3)
1. they will pay more in housing mortgage interest very soon
2. they will pay more as those tax cuts churn through to push up inflation and the CPI
3. they will pay much more in medical insurance to be sure that there is a bed in a private hospital for them if they unfortunately get sick
4. they will watch the mega-rich carry off the rest of Tasmania's timber, Western Australia's minerals, etc.
5. they will pay more and more for electricity produced by the coal industry as the government bankrolls that mirage of "clean coal technology"
6. they will watch the prices of food skyrocket as the government continues to grant handouts to unsustainable farmers in the western division.