What’s right

You may be aware that both Bunnings and Officeworks have decided to put greater weight on the moral concept of "what's right" rather than profit.

They have stated that they will stop selling timber and paper that is sourced from native forests because of the unsustainable manner in which those forests are being harvested.

VicForests has consistently failed in achieving internationally recognised Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for sustainable forest management.

At a time when there is so much public concern over management of our native forests, it is of critical importance to have a system which provides an independent, third party assessment of the business and operational performance of Vic Forests against world best practice benchmarks.

This is necessary to guarantee the public, customers, neighbours, and the government itself that the right thing is being done.

In the Gippsland region other forest managers have achieved FSC certification. For Vic Forests to have failed this yet again is shame and must not be tolerated.

We should be asking questions as to why this is so. Is it because they have so poorly managed the forest estate that they plan to clearfell forests next to tourist towns such as Noojee?

Is it because entire landscapes of forests have recently been clear cut at the back of Noojee, Matlock and Rubicon when those forests should have been managed as future resource for the timber industry?

Is it because climate change impacts, including recent forest fires, have not been taken into account in the calculations of available sustainable timber yield? Is it because VicForests have been caught out illegally logging habitats of endangered species?

I am pointing directly at VicForests for this mismanagement; but clearly the buck stops with the Government of the day. There are broader issues that are driving the over cutting of our local forests, such as the Victorian Legislation that guarantees Australian Paper (which is fully Japanese owned) a resource that is in short supply, and the preference deals done with Heyfield sawmill (49 per cent owned by the Victorian Government) over our own smaller local mills.

Our forest estate is and has been managed badly. Indeed Bunnings and Officeworks should be commended for their ethical attitudes and ordinary people should continue to pressure the government to ensure our forests are there for all, forever. Liz Clay, Piedmont

I too want to complain about cats that are about- we have a family of magpies and one of them has a bad foot and can't stand on it properly.

I worry that the neighbour’s cat will catch him’ I told them that now there was a law about cats and that they should read up on it - nothing has been done and we are constantly vigilant outside for the many birds that frequent our neighbourhood - not to mention ducklings. No good having a law if it is not enforced.

Bouquets to all the young people doing Trick-or-Treat. They were all cheerful, polite and engaging, and they had great costumes. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to interact with them. Also, they left no rubbish afterwards (unlike many of my neighbours). Bouquets to all the people that helped myself and my family after a nasty accident on the M1 Freeway near Pakenham on October30. We do not have any names so cannot thank you personally, your assistance was very much appreciated.

Bouquets to Phillip at the Northern Mobile Library for his cheerful service every visit.

A big bouquet to the gentleman who on Monday at Aldi took my hard to push trolley to my car, unpacked my groceries and took my trolley back to retrieve my disc. Thank you for your kindness