Same old sorry slogans
I HAD hoped for a less confrontationist approach by the new Premier on forestry (“Greens must lay off the loggers, Talking Point, February 15). It was nothing but a cutand-paste exercise using all the old slogans and buzzwords. Anyone with a reading age over Grade 8 can access information by expert non-Tasmanian Government sources that paint a very different story.
The Tarkine logging operation was a clumsy first shot in the Government’s deliberate reignition of the forestry wars after reneging on the agreement of all interested parties to move forward as sustainable plantation-based industry.
Of the 17 paragraphs the only one uncluttered by selective half-truths was the penultimate 16th on the “importance of working together”. It’s a pity we can’t thanks to this Government’s cynical votemaintenance by any means.
Bill Tomalin Ranelagh
Listen to the people
PREMIER Gutwein obviously believes that if he targets the Greens as a “demonic force” in his plans to continue deforestation of oldgrowth, the large majority of Tasmanians, who also actually also despise this destruction, will feel shamed, by default, into being linked to this political movement. Not so. Stop the blame game. Listen instead to the people, who, in large numbers wrote of their disgust in the letters pages on this very issue to Eric Abetz. Tasmanians are asking politicians to heed climate change and leave precious trees, especially oldgrowth forest, in the ground.
Huge tracts of leatherwood, unique to Tasmania for honey if left in the ground, have been destroyed. Stop playing politics with Tasmania’s most precious assets. Tasmanians have a clear memory of the corrupt practices of former political interference in forestry. Taxpayers have propped up the industry for years.
A. Francis Sandy Bay
Magnificent giants
SHAWN Britton (Talking Point, Mercury, February 6) says “every tree harvested in native forest is regenerated’’. These trees are 100 years old — magnificent giants in an ancient forest. They will never be replaced in time to prevent the forests drying out, which is happening with the rapid escalation of climate change. Are we seriously cutting down these precious trees to clad the interiors of a high-end tourist venue? Frankly, if it is the only alternative to saving these trees, according to Mr Britton, I would opt for the plastic veneer from China. Yvonne Stark Battery Point
Design philosophy
I SUPPORT the comments of letter-writers of February 7. They all respond to the Talking Point article in which Shawn Britton claims the justification for the proposed selective logging of the Tarkine is the provision of decorative veneer ceiling panels for a high-profile Hobart development, at the request of a leading architectural firm, presumably for its aesthetic value. The assertion that the most likely alternative is an engineered product made of plastic from China is absurd. There are many sustainably produced timber veneers and other materials. As a retired architect, I am appalled by the assertion a reputable architectural practice would specify such a product. If the firm is an industry leader, part of its design philosophy will be the incorporation of environmentally responsible design and sustainable materials. If this is the case, and they have specified a product from a rapidly dwindling resource, the firm should be ashamed.
Peter Bicevskis Sandy Bay
Not so
ROLAND Browne (Talking Point, February 15) and Senator Peter Whish-Wilson (Letters, February 16) abuse their positions as influential environmentalists by their unscientific attacks on forestry. Browne claims the “science of climate change is telling us to protect forests” while Senator Whish-Wilson confuses deforestation (destruction and conversion of forests to alternative land uses) with regeneration (replacement of mature trees by new trees). Undisturbed forests are carbon neutral. The best way to absorb carbon from the atmosphere is to remove mature trees, capture carbon by storing it in wood products, including paper, and replace cleared forest with new trees to absorb carbon. The IPCC argues for regeneration timber products to substitute for concrete and steel.
Bob Cotgrove Mount Nelson