Sarah Wotherspoon and Ellen Whinnett
Heraldsun, November 15, 2006
Victorian timber workers are concerned preference deals between the major parties and the Greens will threaten their livelihood in exchange for votes in the state election. Forest industry groups yesterday called on both Labor and the Liberals to reveal any preference deals done with the Greens in the Lower House.
Victorian Forestry Industries Association CEO Tricia Caswell said any deals between the major parties and the Greens would spell the end for timber towns in East Gippsland. "We are calling all political parties to draw a line in the sand. No more cuts to resource, no more buy-outs of the industry, towns and jobs," she said.
The 2002 Our Forests Our Future report committed 567,800 cubic metres of forest for the timber industry.
Victorian Timber Communities national co-ordinator Kersten Gentle called on Labor to release its forests policy and reveal any preference deals. "We are concerned Labor has not yet released their forests policy and are yet to commit to standing by the sustainable timber industry," she said. "We are just sick and tired of back room deals that put our families and our livelihood at risk."
The major preference deals for the Lower House are currently at a stand-still with Labor, Liberals and the Greens yet to finalise their deals. Labor prefers the Greens in the Upper House. However, a deal seems likely that would see the Liberals preference the Greens ahead of Labor in four inner-city seats where the Greens stand a strong chance of beating the Labor MPs.
In return, the Greens look likely to agree not to preference against the Liberals in nine suburban and regional seats where they have not yet done deals with Labor. The Greens have agreed to send preferences to Labor in 22 marginal seats, in return for preferences in the Upper House.
And Labor is yet to decide whether it will preference the Liberals ahead of the Nationals in seven Lower House seats held by the Nationals. The move could kill off the Nationals but seems unlikely as Labor has a preference for the Nationals ahead of the Liberals in the Upper House."
Original article
16 November, 2006
09 November, 2006
LETTER: Politicians must save our forests
Ellen Sandell, East Brunswick
Letter, The Age, 9/11/06
Our politicians should heed the advice given in the Stern report: "Action to preserve the remaining areas of natural forest is needed urgently" ( The Age, 8/11). With only 10 per cent of Victoria's native forests remaining, something needs to be done to protect what is left, particularly of our old-growth forests.
Politicians from both major parties seem to be sidestepping the issue, with Ted Baillieu and Steve Bracks both seemingly more worried about loss of jobs in the timber industry than the threat of climate change. But if we don't take measures to halt climate change, more jobs will be lost than the few that remain in the native timber industry.
This is not something that we can afford to put off: emissions from deforestation are responsible for about 18 per cent of global greenhouse emissions — more than that of the global transport sector. So come on, Mr Bracks, move the timber industry to sustainable plantations rather than logging our native forests and destroying our future.
Letter, The Age, 9/11/06
Our politicians should heed the advice given in the Stern report: "Action to preserve the remaining areas of natural forest is needed urgently" ( The Age, 8/11). With only 10 per cent of Victoria's native forests remaining, something needs to be done to protect what is left, particularly of our old-growth forests.
Politicians from both major parties seem to be sidestepping the issue, with Ted Baillieu and Steve Bracks both seemingly more worried about loss of jobs in the timber industry than the threat of climate change. But if we don't take measures to halt climate change, more jobs will be lost than the few that remain in the native timber industry.
This is not something that we can afford to put off: emissions from deforestation are responsible for about 18 per cent of global greenhouse emissions — more than that of the global transport sector. So come on, Mr Bracks, move the timber industry to sustainable plantations rather than logging our native forests and destroying our future.
LETTER: Single-issue activism
Mark Poynter, Victorian media spokesman, Institute of Foresters of Australia
Letter, The Age, 9/11/06
THE Wilderness Society's contention that native forest timber production enhances global warming ( The Age, 8/11) highlights the dangers of single-issue activism setting the environmental agenda.
Their claims are based on presumptions of permanent deforestation and unsustainability that are irrelevant to the Australian context where timber production is limited to within less than 10 per cent of forests being logged and regenerated on a sustainable cycle. While unlogged forests are valuable carbon sinks, sustainable timber production within designated zones can add substantially to this. The concept of sustainability dictates that harvested carbon transferred into wood products or lost to the atmosphere is replaced in vigorous new growth in previously harvested areas.
The enhanced sequestration of vigorous post-logging regrowth over and above the slow or static sequestration of older forests allows Victorian native forest timber production to provide an overall net gain in carbon storage that is currently estimated to be seven to eight times greater than the emissions being saved by wind farms. Losing this benefit by closing the native forest industry would be an environmental tragedy that would largely counteract government and community initiatives to embrace cleaner energy.
Letter, The Age, 9/11/06
THE Wilderness Society's contention that native forest timber production enhances global warming ( The Age, 8/11) highlights the dangers of single-issue activism setting the environmental agenda.
Their claims are based on presumptions of permanent deforestation and unsustainability that are irrelevant to the Australian context where timber production is limited to within less than 10 per cent of forests being logged and regenerated on a sustainable cycle. While unlogged forests are valuable carbon sinks, sustainable timber production within designated zones can add substantially to this. The concept of sustainability dictates that harvested carbon transferred into wood products or lost to the atmosphere is replaced in vigorous new growth in previously harvested areas.
The enhanced sequestration of vigorous post-logging regrowth over and above the slow or static sequestration of older forests allows Victorian native forest timber production to provide an overall net gain in carbon storage that is currently estimated to be seven to eight times greater than the emissions being saved by wind farms. Losing this benefit by closing the native forest industry would be an environmental tragedy that would largely counteract government and community initiatives to embrace cleaner energy.
08 November, 2006
THE AGE: State logging greenhouse warning
Rachel Kleinman, November 8, 2006
The Age
Native forest logging in Victoria releases as much greenhouse pollution as putting 2.3 million new cars on the road each year, an environment group says.
The Wilderness Society yesterday renewed calls for the Bracks Government to restrict logging to plantations after the British Stern Review last week identified deforestation as a major cause of climate change.
Australian National University fellow James Watson, a Wilderness Society lobbyist, said Government figures showed that 8995 hectares of Victorian forest and woodland were logged in the past financial year. That amounted to 9.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of 2.3 million new cars, Dr Watson said.
But Environment Minister John Thwaites' spokesman said there were "vastly differing scientific opinions about the impact of logging".
The Government would release a report next year that evaluated logging in catchments against economic, social and environmental criteria, the spokesman said.
Dr Watson said recent Government initiatives to tackle climate change were welcome but were not enough. "They cannot be seen to be seriously addressing dangerous climate change without also stopping logging in old-growth forests and water catchments," he said.
Clearing trees releases back into the atmosphere carbon that has been stored, often for many centuries. Dr Watson said it took up to 150 years for new trees to absorb the carbon released through logging of old trees.
In February 2002, the Bracks' Government's Our Forests Our Future policy committed to a 31 per cent reduction in logging across the state's native forests. There is no date yet for a new Labor policy on logging.
Under a Bracks Government, logging in the Otways would end by 2008 and parts of Gippsland's Strzelecki Ranges were now protected, Mr Thwaites' spokesman said. "Victoria is on the right path to sustainably managing its forests," he said.
Former chief economist of the World Bank, Sir Nicholas Stern, in a report commissioned by the British Government, said emissions from deforestation were responsible for about 18 per cent of global greenhouse emissions — more than that of the global transport sector.
"Action to preserve the remaining areas of natural forest is needed urgently," Sir Nicholas said.
His report said that 8000 years ago 50 per cent of global land surface was covered by forest, compared with 30 per cent now.
Orignal article
The Age
Native forest logging in Victoria releases as much greenhouse pollution as putting 2.3 million new cars on the road each year, an environment group says.
The Wilderness Society yesterday renewed calls for the Bracks Government to restrict logging to plantations after the British Stern Review last week identified deforestation as a major cause of climate change.
Australian National University fellow James Watson, a Wilderness Society lobbyist, said Government figures showed that 8995 hectares of Victorian forest and woodland were logged in the past financial year. That amounted to 9.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of 2.3 million new cars, Dr Watson said.
But Environment Minister John Thwaites' spokesman said there were "vastly differing scientific opinions about the impact of logging".
The Government would release a report next year that evaluated logging in catchments against economic, social and environmental criteria, the spokesman said.
Dr Watson said recent Government initiatives to tackle climate change were welcome but were not enough. "They cannot be seen to be seriously addressing dangerous climate change without also stopping logging in old-growth forests and water catchments," he said.
Clearing trees releases back into the atmosphere carbon that has been stored, often for many centuries. Dr Watson said it took up to 150 years for new trees to absorb the carbon released through logging of old trees.
In February 2002, the Bracks' Government's Our Forests Our Future policy committed to a 31 per cent reduction in logging across the state's native forests. There is no date yet for a new Labor policy on logging.
Under a Bracks Government, logging in the Otways would end by 2008 and parts of Gippsland's Strzelecki Ranges were now protected, Mr Thwaites' spokesman said. "Victoria is on the right path to sustainably managing its forests," he said.
Former chief economist of the World Bank, Sir Nicholas Stern, in a report commissioned by the British Government, said emissions from deforestation were responsible for about 18 per cent of global greenhouse emissions — more than that of the global transport sector.
"Action to preserve the remaining areas of natural forest is needed urgently," Sir Nicholas said.
His report said that 8000 years ago 50 per cent of global land surface was covered by forest, compared with 30 per cent now.
Orignal article
07 November, 2006
LETTER: Tired old parties just don't get it
Alex Schlotzer, Sunshine North
Letter to The Age, 7/11/06
We have seen over the past week an unprecedented number of reports saying that we need more action to prevent environmental disasters. But what do we get from the tired old political parties? We get more rhetoric and empty promises.
I'm tired of the environment being treated with electoral contempt. We've had decades to do something about the water crisis and climate change, but history quite clearly shows us that the ALP, Liberals and Nationals have done nothing but pontificate. The ALP extends the life of Australia's dirtiest coal station (Hazelwood), supports "clean coal" and will not ban logging of our water catchments. The Liberals support nuclear energy, logging in catchments and want to build a dam that will cripple the Maribyrnong River. The Nationals continue to be lost in the wilderness on how to address climate change and the deepening water crisis.
It seems that the lavish promises being made are nothing more than hot air. The Greens are the only ones who take climate change, water and energy seriously, with comprehensive policies for real action.
Source
Letter to The Age, 7/11/06
We have seen over the past week an unprecedented number of reports saying that we need more action to prevent environmental disasters. But what do we get from the tired old political parties? We get more rhetoric and empty promises.
I'm tired of the environment being treated with electoral contempt. We've had decades to do something about the water crisis and climate change, but history quite clearly shows us that the ALP, Liberals and Nationals have done nothing but pontificate. The ALP extends the life of Australia's dirtiest coal station (Hazelwood), supports "clean coal" and will not ban logging of our water catchments. The Liberals support nuclear energy, logging in catchments and want to build a dam that will cripple the Maribyrnong River. The Nationals continue to be lost in the wilderness on how to address climate change and the deepening water crisis.
It seems that the lavish promises being made are nothing more than hot air. The Greens are the only ones who take climate change, water and energy seriously, with comprehensive policies for real action.
Source
04 November, 2006
THE AGE: Vic election debate fires up loggers
The Age, November 4, 2006
Premier Steve Bracks' election campaign performance has fired up both the logging industry and a forestry union. Mr Bracks and Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu came head to head on Friday night in what commentators described as a dull and unsurprising debate over issues such as water, road tolls, industrial relations and health.
Neither side was prepared to claim a win, with Mr Bracks rejecting Mr Baillieu's suggestion of a repeat performance.
But Scott Gentle from Timber Communities Australia (TCA) warned the ALP would face a major backlash in regional areas because Mr Bracks had not ruled out further cuts in the industry. "I think on this issue he had a real chance to stand up and make a firm stand - and he didn't," Mr Gentle said. "The premier recognised that he had made the tough decision to cut the industry by 31 per cent to ensure it was sustainable, yet he couldn't promise there wouldn't be more cuts to our already sustainable industry, which is weak." Mr Gentle said Mr Baillieu did "an excellent job" in the debate and made a firm commitment to protect forestry jobs.
The ALP's performance also came under attack from the forestry division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). CFMEU National Secretary for forestry, Michael O'Connor, said his union would defend its members' interests. "Any political party, or employers or greens who attempt to implement policies that will harm our members' job prospects will suffer the consequences," Mr O'Connor said.
State Liberal president Julian Sheezel repeated the call for another debate, saying a second round would give voters a chance to properly scrutinise the policies of both parties. "The Liberal Party challenges Steve Bracks to a debate (to) be held after the release of the government's pre-election budget update when the state's finances are open to proper scrutiny," Mr Sheezel said. He said the second debate should be held in country Victoria.
But Mr Bracks said there would be no second debate.
Monash University's senior politics lecturer Nic Economou declared the debate a "dull, nil-all draw". He said voters were probably more interested in the soccer than the debate. "Such a bad night to have it on TV - the Melbourne Victory (soccer team) are playing," he told ABC radio. "You can imagine that the people who did watch it were turning off as the thing went on, but I think it's important for the leaders to go through this ritual."
Original article
Premier Steve Bracks' election campaign performance has fired up both the logging industry and a forestry union. Mr Bracks and Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu came head to head on Friday night in what commentators described as a dull and unsurprising debate over issues such as water, road tolls, industrial relations and health.
Neither side was prepared to claim a win, with Mr Bracks rejecting Mr Baillieu's suggestion of a repeat performance.
But Scott Gentle from Timber Communities Australia (TCA) warned the ALP would face a major backlash in regional areas because Mr Bracks had not ruled out further cuts in the industry. "I think on this issue he had a real chance to stand up and make a firm stand - and he didn't," Mr Gentle said. "The premier recognised that he had made the tough decision to cut the industry by 31 per cent to ensure it was sustainable, yet he couldn't promise there wouldn't be more cuts to our already sustainable industry, which is weak." Mr Gentle said Mr Baillieu did "an excellent job" in the debate and made a firm commitment to protect forestry jobs.
The ALP's performance also came under attack from the forestry division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). CFMEU National Secretary for forestry, Michael O'Connor, said his union would defend its members' interests. "Any political party, or employers or greens who attempt to implement policies that will harm our members' job prospects will suffer the consequences," Mr O'Connor said.
State Liberal president Julian Sheezel repeated the call for another debate, saying a second round would give voters a chance to properly scrutinise the policies of both parties. "The Liberal Party challenges Steve Bracks to a debate (to) be held after the release of the government's pre-election budget update when the state's finances are open to proper scrutiny," Mr Sheezel said. He said the second debate should be held in country Victoria.
But Mr Bracks said there would be no second debate.
Monash University's senior politics lecturer Nic Economou declared the debate a "dull, nil-all draw". He said voters were probably more interested in the soccer than the debate. "Such a bad night to have it on TV - the Melbourne Victory (soccer team) are playing," he told ABC radio. "You can imagine that the people who did watch it were turning off as the thing went on, but I think it's important for the leaders to go through this ritual."
Original article
ABC ONLINE: Timber industry to back Baillieu in election
ABC Online
Saturday, November 4, 2006
The logging industry is backing Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu in the election campaign after last night's leadership debate.
Timber Communities Australia says Mr Baillieu gave a clear commitment to the industry but Mr Bracks would not.
The industry group says the Government faces a backlash similar to the one Mark Latham faced in the last federal election when timber communities united against Labor.
The Victorian manager, Scott Gentle, says regional communities will rally against Labor MPs in marginal country seats.
"His failure to commit to the industry is going to see us, we're going to start organising people and unless something is announced in the next week or two that shows that commitment, we'll be going pretty hard against them," he said.
A spokesman for Environment Minister John Thwaites says the Government will release its policies on logging and the environment soon.
Original article
Saturday, November 4, 2006
The logging industry is backing Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu in the election campaign after last night's leadership debate.
Timber Communities Australia says Mr Baillieu gave a clear commitment to the industry but Mr Bracks would not.
The industry group says the Government faces a backlash similar to the one Mark Latham faced in the last federal election when timber communities united against Labor.
The Victorian manager, Scott Gentle, says regional communities will rally against Labor MPs in marginal country seats.
"His failure to commit to the industry is going to see us, we're going to start organising people and unless something is announced in the next week or two that shows that commitment, we'll be going pretty hard against them," he said.
A spokesman for Environment Minister John Thwaites says the Government will release its policies on logging and the environment soon.
Original article
SMH: Vic election debate fires up loggers
November 4, 2006
Premier Steve Bracks' election campaign performance has fired up both the logging industry and a forestry union. Mr Bracks and Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu came head to head on Friday night in what commentators described as a dull and unsurprising debate over issues such as water, road tolls, industrial relations and health.
Neither side was prepared to claim a win, with Mr Bracks rejecting Mr Baillieu's suggestion of a repeat performance.
But Scott Gentle from Timber Communities Australia (TCA) warned the ALP would face a major backlash in regional areas because Mr Bracks had not ruled out further cuts in the industry. "I think on this issue he had a real chance to stand up and make a firm stand - and he didn't," Mr Gentle said. "The premier recognised that he had made the tough decision to cut the industry by 31 per cent to ensure it was sustainable, yet he couldn't promise there wouldn't be more cuts to our already sustainable industry, which is weak."
Mr Gentle said Mr Baillieu did "an excellent job" in the debate and made a firm commitment to protect forestry jobs.
The ALP's performance also came under attack from the forestry division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). CFMEU National Secretary for forestry, Michael O'Connor, said his union would defend its members' interests. "Any political party, or employers or greens who attempt to implement policies that will harm our members' job prospects will suffer the consequences," Mr O'Connor said.
State Liberal president Julian Sheezel repeated the call for another debate, saying a second round would give voters a chance to properly scrutinise the policies of both parties. "The Liberal Party challenges Steve Bracks to a debate (to) be held after the release of the government's pre-election budget update when the state's finances are open to proper scrutiny," Mr Sheezel said. He said the second debate should be held in country Victoria.
But Mr Bracks said there would be no second debate.
Monash University's senior politics lecturer Nic Economou declared the debate a "dull, nil-all draw". He said voters were probably more interested in the soccer than the debate. "Such a bad night to have it on TV - the Melbourne Victory (soccer team) are playing," he told ABC radio.
"You can imagine that the people who did watch it were turning off as the thing went on, but I think it's important for the leaders to go through this ritual."
Original article
Premier Steve Bracks' election campaign performance has fired up both the logging industry and a forestry union. Mr Bracks and Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu came head to head on Friday night in what commentators described as a dull and unsurprising debate over issues such as water, road tolls, industrial relations and health.
Neither side was prepared to claim a win, with Mr Bracks rejecting Mr Baillieu's suggestion of a repeat performance.
But Scott Gentle from Timber Communities Australia (TCA) warned the ALP would face a major backlash in regional areas because Mr Bracks had not ruled out further cuts in the industry. "I think on this issue he had a real chance to stand up and make a firm stand - and he didn't," Mr Gentle said. "The premier recognised that he had made the tough decision to cut the industry by 31 per cent to ensure it was sustainable, yet he couldn't promise there wouldn't be more cuts to our already sustainable industry, which is weak."
Mr Gentle said Mr Baillieu did "an excellent job" in the debate and made a firm commitment to protect forestry jobs.
The ALP's performance also came under attack from the forestry division of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). CFMEU National Secretary for forestry, Michael O'Connor, said his union would defend its members' interests. "Any political party, or employers or greens who attempt to implement policies that will harm our members' job prospects will suffer the consequences," Mr O'Connor said.
State Liberal president Julian Sheezel repeated the call for another debate, saying a second round would give voters a chance to properly scrutinise the policies of both parties. "The Liberal Party challenges Steve Bracks to a debate (to) be held after the release of the government's pre-election budget update when the state's finances are open to proper scrutiny," Mr Sheezel said. He said the second debate should be held in country Victoria.
But Mr Bracks said there would be no second debate.
Monash University's senior politics lecturer Nic Economou declared the debate a "dull, nil-all draw". He said voters were probably more interested in the soccer than the debate. "Such a bad night to have it on TV - the Melbourne Victory (soccer team) are playing," he told ABC radio.
"You can imagine that the people who did watch it were turning off as the thing went on, but I think it's important for the leaders to go through this ritual."
Original article
03 November, 2006
ARTICLE: Greenies 'hijackers' Charged
Nick Higginbottom with AAP
Herald-Sun, November 03, 2006
Two protesters have been charged with public nuisance after chaining themselves to a logging truck that was "hijacked" by a group of environmentalists today. Lauren Caulfield, 25, from Brunswick and a 29-year-old Goongerha man were arrested this morning and will be summonsed to appear at the County Court at a later date. They were part of a demonstration that blocked part of normally busy Swan St in Richmond to stop a logging truck carrying timber to a Geelong woodchip mill, about 4am. They were cut free by police almost five hours later.
Truck driver Steven Reed from Warburton, east of Melbourne, said he stopped his truck when he saw a car that appeared broken down. "I sort of had to slow down to a stop, then I noticed there were people on the footpath. They came running out and everybody went around the truck," he told ABC radio. Mr Reed said he was annoyed at the protest and he considered running the group of protesters over. "I would have loved to have but you can't do it. I don't feel like getting charged with manslaughter at four o'clock in the morning for something I am not really in control of," he said.
A joint media release from Friends of the Earth and the Australian Student Environment Network said the group of about 20 protesters had "hijacked" the truck in protest at the logging of old growth forests in Victoria. Speaking to Southern Cross Broadcasting from the back of a police divisional van after her arrest, Ms Caulfield said Victorian Premier Steve Bracks had failed to act to protect the state's forests. "Obviously, this is a very, very serious issue and it is a real shame that Victorians have to get out there on the streets and get into this kind of situation in order to send such a strong message to government," Ms Caulfield said.
Greens leader Senator Bob Brown said the alleged protesters represented majority public opinion. "Every day of the week, Victoria's high conservation value forests are being hijacked by the Bracks government," he said. However Premier Steve Bracks was critical of the demonstration. "I don't believe it is an appropriate way to present your views," said Mr Bracks.
Original article
Herald-Sun, November 03, 2006
Two protesters have been charged with public nuisance after chaining themselves to a logging truck that was "hijacked" by a group of environmentalists today. Lauren Caulfield, 25, from Brunswick and a 29-year-old Goongerha man were arrested this morning and will be summonsed to appear at the County Court at a later date. They were part of a demonstration that blocked part of normally busy Swan St in Richmond to stop a logging truck carrying timber to a Geelong woodchip mill, about 4am. They were cut free by police almost five hours later.
Truck driver Steven Reed from Warburton, east of Melbourne, said he stopped his truck when he saw a car that appeared broken down. "I sort of had to slow down to a stop, then I noticed there were people on the footpath. They came running out and everybody went around the truck," he told ABC radio. Mr Reed said he was annoyed at the protest and he considered running the group of protesters over. "I would have loved to have but you can't do it. I don't feel like getting charged with manslaughter at four o'clock in the morning for something I am not really in control of," he said.
A joint media release from Friends of the Earth and the Australian Student Environment Network said the group of about 20 protesters had "hijacked" the truck in protest at the logging of old growth forests in Victoria. Speaking to Southern Cross Broadcasting from the back of a police divisional van after her arrest, Ms Caulfield said Victorian Premier Steve Bracks had failed to act to protect the state's forests. "Obviously, this is a very, very serious issue and it is a real shame that Victorians have to get out there on the streets and get into this kind of situation in order to send such a strong message to government," Ms Caulfield said.
Greens leader Senator Bob Brown said the alleged protesters represented majority public opinion. "Every day of the week, Victoria's high conservation value forests are being hijacked by the Bracks government," he said. However Premier Steve Bracks was critical of the demonstration. "I don't believe it is an appropriate way to present your views," said Mr Bracks.
Original article
26 October, 2006
LETTERS: Blind ideology endangers sound debate
Mark Poynter, forestry consultant, Institute of Foresters of Australia
October 26, 2006
The outraged response to my article about the GHG abatement benefits of native forest wood production reinforces my central point that blind anti-logging ideology threatens to counteract alternative energy initiatives that are addressing global warming.
Despite evoking a passionate save-the-forest tirade, my article clearly stated that wood production is only permitted within a 10 per cent portion of Victoria's forests, and so concerns that logging threatens forest survival and integrity are irrelevant.
If our society is to advance, we must address environmental issues in a clear-eyed rational manner. This cannot occur if public debate continues to be dominated by ill-informed armchair environmentalists whose only answers lie in tired rhetoric, self-righteous indignation, and discrediting the informed thoughts of scientists who grapple with environmental issues on a daily basis.
Foresters know what they are doing
Norman Endacott, Warranwood
Your four correspondents (Business, 24/10) pillory Mark Poynter (Business, 18/10) for dutifully sticking to the truth in debunking the misinformation perpetrated by Gavan McFadzean, who has attributed bad global warming outcomes to the harvesting and concomitant regeneration of our native forests. Those forest management practices have been honed over the years, and cannot be accused of depleting or degrading those forests, in terms of environmental values or long-term timber sustainability or carbon retention.
Those four people have an ignorance of the life cycle of a tree, a forest, a forest landscape mosaic, or an ecosystem, and they just cannot perceive the waxing and waning associated with the interplay of the foresters' ministrations and nature.
Source
October 26, 2006
The outraged response to my article about the GHG abatement benefits of native forest wood production reinforces my central point that blind anti-logging ideology threatens to counteract alternative energy initiatives that are addressing global warming.
Despite evoking a passionate save-the-forest tirade, my article clearly stated that wood production is only permitted within a 10 per cent portion of Victoria's forests, and so concerns that logging threatens forest survival and integrity are irrelevant.
If our society is to advance, we must address environmental issues in a clear-eyed rational manner. This cannot occur if public debate continues to be dominated by ill-informed armchair environmentalists whose only answers lie in tired rhetoric, self-righteous indignation, and discrediting the informed thoughts of scientists who grapple with environmental issues on a daily basis.
Foresters know what they are doing
Norman Endacott, Warranwood
Your four correspondents (Business, 24/10) pillory Mark Poynter (Business, 18/10) for dutifully sticking to the truth in debunking the misinformation perpetrated by Gavan McFadzean, who has attributed bad global warming outcomes to the harvesting and concomitant regeneration of our native forests. Those forest management practices have been honed over the years, and cannot be accused of depleting or degrading those forests, in terms of environmental values or long-term timber sustainability or carbon retention.
Those four people have an ignorance of the life cycle of a tree, a forest, a forest landscape mosaic, or an ecosystem, and they just cannot perceive the waxing and waning associated with the interplay of the foresters' ministrations and nature.
Source
21 October, 2006
ARTICLE: Gunns must pay Greens costs
Xavier La Canna
The Heraldsun, 21 October 2006
Tasmanian timber company Gunns must pay legal costs for a group of environmentalists it tried to sue for millions of dollars, a Victorian judge has ruled.
Supreme Court Justice Bernard Bongiorno yesterday ruled that Gunns must pay the costs, which relate to an unsuccessful claim that 20 environmentalists took part in conspiracies against the company.
Greg Ogle, the legal coordinator for the Wilderness Society, one of the defendants, said the costs would probably amount to more than $1 million.
But Mr Ogle said it was unlikely the environmentalists would be given the money for at least one year, while the exact amount was decided.
Gunns had tried to sue the 20 defendants, who included Greens Senator Bob Brown and Tasmanian Greens leader Peg Putt, for almost $7 million.
Since December 2004 the company has filed three separate statements of claim, which have all been thrown out of court.
In August, Justice Bongiorno ruled three of the defendants should be given a total of nearly $87,000, which related to the first statement of claim.
Yesterday's ruling relates to the third statement of claim Gunns made against the environmentalists.
Wilderness Society spokeswoman Virginia Young welcomed the ruling but said it would not cover the organisation's total costs.
The costs will include the expense of reading and responding to the statement of claim, as well as researching and formulating the legal arguments, and the costs of the three-day hearing in August last year, the society said in a statement.
Justice Bongiorno also gave Gunns until November 2 to seek leave to file a fourth statement of claim in relation to the alleged conspiracies against the company.
AAP
Original article
The Heraldsun, 21 October 2006
Tasmanian timber company Gunns must pay legal costs for a group of environmentalists it tried to sue for millions of dollars, a Victorian judge has ruled.
Supreme Court Justice Bernard Bongiorno yesterday ruled that Gunns must pay the costs, which relate to an unsuccessful claim that 20 environmentalists took part in conspiracies against the company.
Greg Ogle, the legal coordinator for the Wilderness Society, one of the defendants, said the costs would probably amount to more than $1 million.
But Mr Ogle said it was unlikely the environmentalists would be given the money for at least one year, while the exact amount was decided.
Gunns had tried to sue the 20 defendants, who included Greens Senator Bob Brown and Tasmanian Greens leader Peg Putt, for almost $7 million.
Since December 2004 the company has filed three separate statements of claim, which have all been thrown out of court.
In August, Justice Bongiorno ruled three of the defendants should be given a total of nearly $87,000, which related to the first statement of claim.
Yesterday's ruling relates to the third statement of claim Gunns made against the environmentalists.
Wilderness Society spokeswoman Virginia Young welcomed the ruling but said it would not cover the organisation's total costs.
The costs will include the expense of reading and responding to the statement of claim, as well as researching and formulating the legal arguments, and the costs of the three-day hearing in August last year, the society said in a statement.
Justice Bongiorno also gave Gunns until November 2 to seek leave to file a fourth statement of claim in relation to the alleged conspiracies against the company.
AAP
Original article
LETTER: Give us water, not timber
Ellen Sandell, East Brunswick
The Age, Saturday 21 October 2006
The Bracks Government has finally gone mad. The decision not to end logging in Melbourne's water catchments ( The Age, 20/10) is irresponsible, shortsighted and stupid.
With countless reports highlighting the fact that logging causes a significant water loss, the Government sits on its hands and spits out rhetoric about jobs and money from timber. Isn't it aware that the amount of water that would be saved is worth more money than the timber coming out of the catchments?
Labor's forest policy was hijacked in the 1990s by forest industry staff who planted spies in environment groups and blocked discussion on forest protection. Now, with the ridiculous decision about our water catchments, one cannot help but wonder if this is happening again.
The Age, Saturday 21 October 2006
The Bracks Government has finally gone mad. The decision not to end logging in Melbourne's water catchments ( The Age, 20/10) is irresponsible, shortsighted and stupid.
With countless reports highlighting the fact that logging causes a significant water loss, the Government sits on its hands and spits out rhetoric about jobs and money from timber. Isn't it aware that the amount of water that would be saved is worth more money than the timber coming out of the catchments?
Labor's forest policy was hijacked in the 1990s by forest industry staff who planted spies in environment groups and blocked discussion on forest protection. Now, with the ridiculous decision about our water catchments, one cannot help but wonder if this is happening again.
20 October, 2006
ARTICLE: No end to logging in catchments
Liz Minchin, Environment Report
The Age, October 20, 2006
Loging in Melbourne's water catchments will continue for at least another two years, despite government-appointed experts conceding it reduces the amount of water running into the city's biggest dam.
This week the State Government released its strategy to supply Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and the Latrobe Valley with water for the next 50 years.
But the strategy did not include any decisions about continuing to log water catchment areas, including higher rainfall areas above Melbourne's main reservoir, Lake Thomson.
Four years ago, an expert committee appointed by the Bracks Government said phasing out logging in the Thomson catchment by 2020 could increase Melbourne's long-term water supply by an estimated 20,000 megalitres a year by 2050 — enough to supply 80,000 Melbourne homes.
Their report, 21st Century Melbourne: a WaterSmart City, called for an investigation to be completed within two years into whether logging in the Thomson Reservoir catchment should be phased out.
Similar recommendations were made in a 2003 Department of Sustainability and Environment paper.
The Government has now commissioned studies into how much water is being lost from logging and whether it could be replaced with timber from plantations outside catchment areas.
But its new water strategy says those studies will not be completed until December 2008, with a Department of Sustainability and Environment spokeswoman confirming that "the project is still at an early stage".
A spokesman for Water Minister John Thwaites defended the time the Government was taking to act, saying "any decision on logging in catchments has to balance any potential increase in water yields with the impact on regional jobs and the economy".
In response, the State Opposition and environment groups accused the Government of trying to delay controversial decisions until after next month's election.
"This is another example of the Bracks Government hiding critical data ahead of the state election," Liberal environment spokesman David Davis said.
Central Highlands Alliance president Sarah Rees said studies going back to 1968 showed that logging reduced water flows into water catchments.
"How many more reports do they need before they'll finally do something?" Ms Rees said.
Meanwhile, Latrobe Valley power workers have called for reassurances about the Government's $2.4 billion plan to use recycled water to cool Victoria's biggest electricity plants, after a Government report suggested it may increase their chances of catching legionnaire's disease.
The feasibility study for the Eastern Water Recycling proposal notes that more chemicals will be needed to treat recycled water used in cooling towers "due to expected higher nutrient levels in cooling water … to control biological growth including legionella".
"I'm concerned that introducing new impurities, new toxins or nutrients into our system … presents a potential risk of increased outbreaks and perhaps the introduction of new bugs," Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union spokesman Greg Hardy said."
Original article
The Age, October 20, 2006
Loging in Melbourne's water catchments will continue for at least another two years, despite government-appointed experts conceding it reduces the amount of water running into the city's biggest dam.
This week the State Government released its strategy to supply Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and the Latrobe Valley with water for the next 50 years.
But the strategy did not include any decisions about continuing to log water catchment areas, including higher rainfall areas above Melbourne's main reservoir, Lake Thomson.
Four years ago, an expert committee appointed by the Bracks Government said phasing out logging in the Thomson catchment by 2020 could increase Melbourne's long-term water supply by an estimated 20,000 megalitres a year by 2050 — enough to supply 80,000 Melbourne homes.
Their report, 21st Century Melbourne: a WaterSmart City, called for an investigation to be completed within two years into whether logging in the Thomson Reservoir catchment should be phased out.
Similar recommendations were made in a 2003 Department of Sustainability and Environment paper.
The Government has now commissioned studies into how much water is being lost from logging and whether it could be replaced with timber from plantations outside catchment areas.
But its new water strategy says those studies will not be completed until December 2008, with a Department of Sustainability and Environment spokeswoman confirming that "the project is still at an early stage".
A spokesman for Water Minister John Thwaites defended the time the Government was taking to act, saying "any decision on logging in catchments has to balance any potential increase in water yields with the impact on regional jobs and the economy".
In response, the State Opposition and environment groups accused the Government of trying to delay controversial decisions until after next month's election.
"This is another example of the Bracks Government hiding critical data ahead of the state election," Liberal environment spokesman David Davis said.
Central Highlands Alliance president Sarah Rees said studies going back to 1968 showed that logging reduced water flows into water catchments.
"How many more reports do they need before they'll finally do something?" Ms Rees said.
Meanwhile, Latrobe Valley power workers have called for reassurances about the Government's $2.4 billion plan to use recycled water to cool Victoria's biggest electricity plants, after a Government report suggested it may increase their chances of catching legionnaire's disease.
The feasibility study for the Eastern Water Recycling proposal notes that more chemicals will be needed to treat recycled water used in cooling towers "due to expected higher nutrient levels in cooling water … to control biological growth including legionella".
"I'm concerned that introducing new impurities, new toxins or nutrients into our system … presents a potential risk of increased outbreaks and perhaps the introduction of new bugs," Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union spokesman Greg Hardy said."
Original article
18 October, 2006
ARTICLE: Campaigners can't see forest for trees
Mark Poynter
Forestry consultant, and member of the Institute of Foresters of Australia.
The Age, October 18, 2006
THE start of Victoria's renewable energy trading scheme in January signifies a welcome Government willingness to step up the fight against global warming.
Yet environmental groups continue to pressure the Government to act against native forest logging and close Victoria's hardwood timber industry - a debate that was reignited recently by an ABC Four Corners program.
Although not obvious to most Victorians, there is a counter-productive link here that needs to be acknowledged if we are to make headway against global warming.
Sustainable logging is now restricted to just 10 per cent of Victoria's native forests. Yet anti-logging campaigns continue to attribute it with damaging environmental impacts out of proportion to its nature and extent. This includes the erroneous claim that timber
production promotes global warming by diminishing the capacity of native forests as carbon sinks when the opposite is true.
It is widely appreciated that growing forests sequester atmospheric carbon that effectively counteracts greenhouse gas emissions. But rates diminish as growth slows with age. Over time, undisturbed forests store carbon but sequester little new carbon once they reach maturity and
become "old growth".
But sustainable harvesting maintains a continuous cycle of vigorous growth that actively sequesters carbon at high rates while annually transferring carbon storage from trees to various wood-based products.
Losses of carbon occur along the way, most notably through greenhouse gas emissions from mechanised timber harvesting, log cartage, primary processing, and from slash burning to promote forest regeneration. But the losses are relatively small compared with the rate of enhanced carbon sequestration and storage by logging regrowth.
Sustainable logging in Victoria's designated wood production zones produces about 1.5 million cubic metres of hardwood sawlogs and residual logs a year from an estimated total harvested biomass of about 2.1 million cubic metres, including roots, bark, branches and foliage. The
concept of sustainability dictates that annually harvested amount is replaced by an equivalent volume of growth.
Carbon sequestered each year in new biomass growth in Victoria's production zones is estimated to be equivalent to saving 2.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This is net of emissions from fuel and power use inherent to timber production and emissions from the regeneration process. It is also additional to the carbon that could have been sequestered if the forest had alternatively been left unlogged.
Putting this into perspective is that clean energy produced from Victorian wind farms has been estimated to save 250,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year. Put another way, if anti-logging campaigns were to close Victoria's native forest timber industry, 10 times as many wind turbines as now exist would be required just to make up for the carbon sequestration lost by "locking up" wood production forests.
Enhanced carbon sequestration is only part of the "greenhouse" benefit of sustainable logging. Australian domestic hardwood production also offsets imports of tropical hardwoods and the use of steel, aluminium and concrete that offer poor environmental outcomes.
Tropical timber imports - often illegally produced from unsustainable sources - have increased by 50 per cent since 2001 as state governments have reduced the native forest harvest. This has been accompanied by additional greenhouse gas emissions inherent to international freight.
Unfortunately, this is likely to continue as we have few hardwood plantations being grown for solid wood production.
The use of substitute products is also believed to have increased as governments have reacted to anti-logging campaigns. These are problematic because they rely on finite resources and because their manufacture involves substantially greater carbon emissions compared with producing a similar unit of renewable solid timber. In particular, greenhouse gas emissions from steel and aluminium making are several hundred times greater than that associated with timber.
No one disputes the benefits of focusing on conserving biodiversity as is now the case in most of our native forests. But it must be recognised there are also substantial environmental benefits associated with sustainably harvesting wood from a portion of our forests.
At a time when environmental awareness is starting to drive urgent political action to tackle global warming, unwarranted campaigns to "save" a minor portion of our forests from sustainable timber production threaten to counteract much of the good work being done by governments and Australians to embrace cleaner "green" energy alternatives.
Forestry consultant, and member of the Institute of Foresters of Australia.
The Age, October 18, 2006
THE start of Victoria's renewable energy trading scheme in January signifies a welcome Government willingness to step up the fight against global warming.
Yet environmental groups continue to pressure the Government to act against native forest logging and close Victoria's hardwood timber industry - a debate that was reignited recently by an ABC Four Corners program.
Although not obvious to most Victorians, there is a counter-productive link here that needs to be acknowledged if we are to make headway against global warming.
Sustainable logging is now restricted to just 10 per cent of Victoria's native forests. Yet anti-logging campaigns continue to attribute it with damaging environmental impacts out of proportion to its nature and extent. This includes the erroneous claim that timber
production promotes global warming by diminishing the capacity of native forests as carbon sinks when the opposite is true.
It is widely appreciated that growing forests sequester atmospheric carbon that effectively counteracts greenhouse gas emissions. But rates diminish as growth slows with age. Over time, undisturbed forests store carbon but sequester little new carbon once they reach maturity and
become "old growth".
But sustainable harvesting maintains a continuous cycle of vigorous growth that actively sequesters carbon at high rates while annually transferring carbon storage from trees to various wood-based products.
Losses of carbon occur along the way, most notably through greenhouse gas emissions from mechanised timber harvesting, log cartage, primary processing, and from slash burning to promote forest regeneration. But the losses are relatively small compared with the rate of enhanced carbon sequestration and storage by logging regrowth.
Sustainable logging in Victoria's designated wood production zones produces about 1.5 million cubic metres of hardwood sawlogs and residual logs a year from an estimated total harvested biomass of about 2.1 million cubic metres, including roots, bark, branches and foliage. The
concept of sustainability dictates that annually harvested amount is replaced by an equivalent volume of growth.
Carbon sequestered each year in new biomass growth in Victoria's production zones is estimated to be equivalent to saving 2.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. This is net of emissions from fuel and power use inherent to timber production and emissions from the regeneration process. It is also additional to the carbon that could have been sequestered if the forest had alternatively been left unlogged.
Putting this into perspective is that clean energy produced from Victorian wind farms has been estimated to save 250,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year. Put another way, if anti-logging campaigns were to close Victoria's native forest timber industry, 10 times as many wind turbines as now exist would be required just to make up for the carbon sequestration lost by "locking up" wood production forests.
Enhanced carbon sequestration is only part of the "greenhouse" benefit of sustainable logging. Australian domestic hardwood production also offsets imports of tropical hardwoods and the use of steel, aluminium and concrete that offer poor environmental outcomes.
Tropical timber imports - often illegally produced from unsustainable sources - have increased by 50 per cent since 2001 as state governments have reduced the native forest harvest. This has been accompanied by additional greenhouse gas emissions inherent to international freight.
Unfortunately, this is likely to continue as we have few hardwood plantations being grown for solid wood production.
The use of substitute products is also believed to have increased as governments have reacted to anti-logging campaigns. These are problematic because they rely on finite resources and because their manufacture involves substantially greater carbon emissions compared with producing a similar unit of renewable solid timber. In particular, greenhouse gas emissions from steel and aluminium making are several hundred times greater than that associated with timber.
No one disputes the benefits of focusing on conserving biodiversity as is now the case in most of our native forests. But it must be recognised there are also substantial environmental benefits associated with sustainably harvesting wood from a portion of our forests.
At a time when environmental awareness is starting to drive urgent political action to tackle global warming, unwarranted campaigns to "save" a minor portion of our forests from sustainable timber production threaten to counteract much of the good work being done by governments and Australians to embrace cleaner "green" energy alternatives.
13 October, 2006
NEWS: Govt to protect Strzelecki forest
www.abc.net.au
Friday, October 13, 2006
The Victorian Government has struck a deal to permanently protect 8,000 hectares of the Strzelecki forest in Gippsland.
After six years of negotiations, the Government has paid Hancock Plantations $7 million for the Cores and Links.
The new reserve features cool-temperate rainforest and mountain ash and will link Tarra Bulga National Park to the Gunyah Rainforest Reserve.
But Deputy Premier John Thwaites says a pocket of plantation timber within the reserve will be logged under the deal.
"They'll be able to log once and then it will never be logged again," he said.
Greens candidate Louis Delacretaz says the compromise is inappropriate.
"It's incredibly difficult to put back the biodiversity after you log an area," he said.
This morning's announcement in Gippsland by the Deputy Premier was kept secret to prevent protests by green groups.
Original articles
Friday, October 13, 2006
The Victorian Government has struck a deal to permanently protect 8,000 hectares of the Strzelecki forest in Gippsland.
After six years of negotiations, the Government has paid Hancock Plantations $7 million for the Cores and Links.
The new reserve features cool-temperate rainforest and mountain ash and will link Tarra Bulga National Park to the Gunyah Rainforest Reserve.
But Deputy Premier John Thwaites says a pocket of plantation timber within the reserve will be logged under the deal.
"They'll be able to log once and then it will never be logged again," he said.
Greens candidate Louis Delacretaz says the compromise is inappropriate.
"It's incredibly difficult to put back the biodiversity after you log an area," he said.
This morning's announcement in Gippsland by the Deputy Premier was kept secret to prevent protests by green groups.
Original articles
02 October, 2006
THE AGE:Revealed: spying on Greens
Michael Bachelard
The Age, October 2, 2006
Multinational packaging company Amcor stacked the Labor Party, infiltrated environment groups, sent people pretending to be greenies to forest protests and paid bribes overseas to secure its supply of native hardwood in the 1990s.
Company documents obtained by the ABC's Four Corners show that, for more than a decade from 1989 to 2001, the company funded its staff, through the so-called "A-team", to spy on and sabotage its opponents.
The union, the pulp and paper workers, which later joined the forestry division of the CFMEU, co-funded the A-team.
It was led by Derek Amos, a former state Labor MP and shadow minister for energy, and Victoria was the epicentre of the group's activities.
At its height in the late 1990s, A-team representatives were in the majority on the state ALP's environment policy committee, hindering any discussion of forest policy in the party.
They had got their places on the committee by working through the union, but also by taking over the Traralgon branch of the ALP.
"Oh, it was stacked, there was no doubt about that," the Labor MP for Morwell, Keith Hamilton, told the program.
A-team spokesman and mill worker Chris Moody became the branch's president and Mr Amos' daughter, Leanne Martin, the secretary.
"We would sit around a table and the A-team would sit in a group together; they were extremely well organised," former environment policy committee member Kerry Baker said.
Another member, Cheryl Wragg, said "any time that people other than the Amcor A-team mentioned forestry policy, they would be yelled out of the room". Calls by non-A-team committee members to ALP head office for an investigation fell on deaf ears.
But in the lead-up to the 1999 state conference, an election year, something was finally done. The environment committee drafted a forest policy, which would have opened up 40 per cent of Victorian old growth forest for logging, but, as non-A-team members threatened open revolt, ALP head office, under state secretary John Lenders, took the policy in and rewrote it.
Mr Amos has also confirmed that the A-team infiltrated the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and Environment Victoria, where a spy, "Tracy", would get paid time off from her shifts at Amcor's Maryvale pulp and paper mill to attend meetings, photocopying any documents she could get hold of.
She took "copious notes" and filed written reports on Environment Victoria's discussions.
Some of those reports found their way to the then member for McMillan, Barry Cunningham, a Labor MP whom the A-team had helped to get elected to Federal Parliament. When he started quoting Environment Victoria minutes in Federal Parliament, the environment group realised they had been infiltrated.
Mr Amos said this was part of "a program to discredit environmental groups" through "covert operations which included the planting of volunteers as bogus greenies in targeted environmental organisations".
A-team players were active on the front line of the 1990s environment movement: the forest protests.
In 1993, the team's members joined in as the green protesters set up camp in Goongerah, East Gippsland, to protest against woodchipping in national estate forests.
According to veteran green campaigner Jill Redwood, the two spies, "David and John", turned up at the camp in "a big, clean, white four-wheel-drive ute" and "nice neat clothes".
The spies' report to Amcor says the protesters were "unkempt" with "matted hair and dishevelled clothing, similar to early '70s styling".
Mr Amos claimed success, through the help of federal Labor MPs, in convincing the Keating government in 1995 to institute a more pro-logging policy. He also admitted to international bribery, saying in a document he had paid the customers of Amcor's competitors to find out commercially sensitive information.
The A-team was disbanded in 2001 after Amcor's paper-making operations were spun-out into a new company, PaperlinX. Amcor went on to further notoriety when its executives were sacked two years ago for their part in a cartel to fix prices for cardboard boxes
Original article
The Age, October 2, 2006
Multinational packaging company Amcor stacked the Labor Party, infiltrated environment groups, sent people pretending to be greenies to forest protests and paid bribes overseas to secure its supply of native hardwood in the 1990s.
Company documents obtained by the ABC's Four Corners show that, for more than a decade from 1989 to 2001, the company funded its staff, through the so-called "A-team", to spy on and sabotage its opponents.
The union, the pulp and paper workers, which later joined the forestry division of the CFMEU, co-funded the A-team.
It was led by Derek Amos, a former state Labor MP and shadow minister for energy, and Victoria was the epicentre of the group's activities.
At its height in the late 1990s, A-team representatives were in the majority on the state ALP's environment policy committee, hindering any discussion of forest policy in the party.
They had got their places on the committee by working through the union, but also by taking over the Traralgon branch of the ALP.
"Oh, it was stacked, there was no doubt about that," the Labor MP for Morwell, Keith Hamilton, told the program.
A-team spokesman and mill worker Chris Moody became the branch's president and Mr Amos' daughter, Leanne Martin, the secretary.
"We would sit around a table and the A-team would sit in a group together; they were extremely well organised," former environment policy committee member Kerry Baker said.
Another member, Cheryl Wragg, said "any time that people other than the Amcor A-team mentioned forestry policy, they would be yelled out of the room". Calls by non-A-team committee members to ALP head office for an investigation fell on deaf ears.
But in the lead-up to the 1999 state conference, an election year, something was finally done. The environment committee drafted a forest policy, which would have opened up 40 per cent of Victorian old growth forest for logging, but, as non-A-team members threatened open revolt, ALP head office, under state secretary John Lenders, took the policy in and rewrote it.
Mr Amos has also confirmed that the A-team infiltrated the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and Environment Victoria, where a spy, "Tracy", would get paid time off from her shifts at Amcor's Maryvale pulp and paper mill to attend meetings, photocopying any documents she could get hold of.
She took "copious notes" and filed written reports on Environment Victoria's discussions.
Some of those reports found their way to the then member for McMillan, Barry Cunningham, a Labor MP whom the A-team had helped to get elected to Federal Parliament. When he started quoting Environment Victoria minutes in Federal Parliament, the environment group realised they had been infiltrated.
Mr Amos said this was part of "a program to discredit environmental groups" through "covert operations which included the planting of volunteers as bogus greenies in targeted environmental organisations".
A-team players were active on the front line of the 1990s environment movement: the forest protests.
In 1993, the team's members joined in as the green protesters set up camp in Goongerah, East Gippsland, to protest against woodchipping in national estate forests.
According to veteran green campaigner Jill Redwood, the two spies, "David and John", turned up at the camp in "a big, clean, white four-wheel-drive ute" and "nice neat clothes".
The spies' report to Amcor says the protesters were "unkempt" with "matted hair and dishevelled clothing, similar to early '70s styling".
Mr Amos claimed success, through the help of federal Labor MPs, in convincing the Keating government in 1995 to institute a more pro-logging policy. He also admitted to international bribery, saying in a document he had paid the customers of Amcor's competitors to find out commercially sensitive information.
The A-team was disbanded in 2001 after Amcor's paper-making operations were spun-out into a new company, PaperlinX. Amcor went on to further notoriety when its executives were sacked two years ago for their part in a cartel to fix prices for cardboard boxes
Original article
08 September, 2006
LETTER: Simplistic take on logging and water
Mark Poynter, Victorian media spokesman, The Institute of Foresters of Australia
The Age, 8/9/06
Recent correspondents (Letters, 1/9 and 7/9) who simplistically advocate excluding regrowth as a solution to our water problems have seemingly forgotten the recent massive bushfires in north-eastern Victoria and the Grampians.
That these have sparked regrowth events that will reduce stream flows for several generations clearly demonstrates that nature, not a tiny amount of logging, is the ultimate determinant of how much flows into our storages.
If anti-logging activists were serious about water beyond it being just a convenient argument for their agenda, they would rethink their opposition to active catchment management.
Source
The Age, 8/9/06
Recent correspondents (Letters, 1/9 and 7/9) who simplistically advocate excluding regrowth as a solution to our water problems have seemingly forgotten the recent massive bushfires in north-eastern Victoria and the Grampians.
That these have sparked regrowth events that will reduce stream flows for several generations clearly demonstrates that nature, not a tiny amount of logging, is the ultimate determinant of how much flows into our storages.
If anti-logging activists were serious about water beyond it being just a convenient argument for their agenda, they would rethink their opposition to active catchment management.
Source
07 September, 2006
LETTER: Logging our way to a long, hot summer
Ellen Sandell, East Brunswick
The Age, 7 September 2006
With an increased risk of bushfires this summer due to lower than average rainfall ( The Age, 5/9), the CFA has questioned whether there will be enough water to deal with the fire season.
As logging in our water catchments loses 1000 litres of water every second, perhaps if we stopped logging we would have enough water to fight bushfires! Logging also increases the risk of bushfires as old, damp forests are replaced with young, dry regrowth. Perhaps if we just left our old-growth trees alone we wouldn't be complaining about water restrictions, bushfires and climate change.
The Age, 7 September 2006
With an increased risk of bushfires this summer due to lower than average rainfall ( The Age, 5/9), the CFA has questioned whether there will be enough water to deal with the fire season.
As logging in our water catchments loses 1000 litres of water every second, perhaps if we stopped logging we would have enough water to fight bushfires! Logging also increases the risk of bushfires as old, damp forests are replaced with young, dry regrowth. Perhaps if we just left our old-growth trees alone we wouldn't be complaining about water restrictions, bushfires and climate change.
01 September, 2006
LETTER: Why lug buckets if we continue to log our forests?
Lee O'Mahoney, Diamond Creek
Letter to the Editor, The Age
September 1, 2006
Once again, we're being asked to shower with a friend, lug buckets of water around and rinse our brushed teeth with a smidgen of water. Fair enough. I support us developing more respect and care for our water resources.
But there's a glaring anomaly, one that the Government is loathe to acknowledge: changes we make to our showering, gardening and tooth-brushing habits are mere drops in the dam of our dwindling water supplies when trees in our water catchments continue to be logged.
Logged forests suck up 50 per cent more water compared with areas that aren't logged. Young trees are off-the-wagon waterholics compared with oldies. What's more, there's simply no need for it: supplies from plantations that aren't in our water catchments are sufficient to meet our needs for wood and woodchips.
Come on, Mr Bracks, put our water where your mouth is. Stop stealing water from our water catchments and reducing our already scarce supplies.
Original letter
Letter to the Editor, The Age
September 1, 2006
Once again, we're being asked to shower with a friend, lug buckets of water around and rinse our brushed teeth with a smidgen of water. Fair enough. I support us developing more respect and care for our water resources.
But there's a glaring anomaly, one that the Government is loathe to acknowledge: changes we make to our showering, gardening and tooth-brushing habits are mere drops in the dam of our dwindling water supplies when trees in our water catchments continue to be logged.
Logged forests suck up 50 per cent more water compared with areas that aren't logged. Young trees are off-the-wagon waterholics compared with oldies. What's more, there's simply no need for it: supplies from plantations that aren't in our water catchments are sufficient to meet our needs for wood and woodchips.
Come on, Mr Bracks, put our water where your mouth is. Stop stealing water from our water catchments and reducing our already scarce supplies.
Original letter
ARTICLE: Forestry row taken to the marginals
Ellen Whinnett
Sunday Herald Sun, September 1, 2006
Environment groups are planning a high-profile pre-election battle to have logging banned in vast tracts of Victorian forest.
A coalition of environment groups will launch its campaign shortly. They will focus on important marginal seats held by both the Liberal and Labor parties in an effort to have their message heard.
Areas in Gippsland are shaping up as the next forest battleground. Environmental groups are concerned about wood-chipping in old-growth forests, logging in water catchments, and the impact of the loss of habitat on 12 endangered species of birds, animals and frogs. The group wants clear-felling banned in all Victorian forests and all logging ended in areas worthy of conservation.
The move could set the scene for a repetition of the conflict in the Otways forests in the lead-up to the 2002 election. This eventually led Premier Steve Bracks to agree to phase out logging in the Otways by 2008.
Campaign spokesman Luke Chamberlain, from Environment East Gippsland, said two years had been spent mapping significant areas of forest that he said should be protected from logging. He said Victoria's state-owned forests were being turned over to woodchips, which were mainly sent for export and were no longer providing a great number of jobs. "It's a land grab to turn the old-growth forests into woodchip farms," Mr Chamberlain said.
Environment groups involved in the coalition, including the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and the Central Highlands Alliance, will focus on several marginal seats in regional Victoria and suburban Melbourne. They include Labor's Ferntree Gully, Mt Waverley, Prahran, Mordialloc, Bentleigh and South Barwon, and Liberal marginals Nepean, South-West Coast and Bass.
They hope to reinforce the message that logging in catchment areas is continuing while water restrictions are being introduced in Melbourne.
Mr Chamberlain denied that the group would automatically support the Greens, saying they would endorse whichever party had the strongest environmental policy. But he said the Greens' policies were the best they had seen so far.
Independent MLA for the seat of Gippsland East, Craig Ingram, said the group was seeking to end all old-growth logging in his electorate, which would jeopardise up to 500 jobs. "Basically 85 per cent of old-growth is already reserved," Mr Ingram said.
He said banning logging in old-growth forests would affect the industry "everywhere east of Bairnsdale", and would hit saw-millers hard. The issue was important to voters in the timber towns of Cann River and Orbost and on into Bairnsdale. "It would be absolutely devastating to my community -- basically, death by a thousand cuts," Mr Ingram said. "It really has the potential to be a winner or a loser at the election, and I'd call on the major political parties to hold the line and protect the industry."
Mr Ingram said the environmental group was highly organised and had been putting serious pressure on all MPs. "They are spending as much time in Parliament House as some of the members of Parliament," Mr Ingram said."
Original article
Sunday Herald Sun, September 1, 2006
Environment groups are planning a high-profile pre-election battle to have logging banned in vast tracts of Victorian forest.
A coalition of environment groups will launch its campaign shortly. They will focus on important marginal seats held by both the Liberal and Labor parties in an effort to have their message heard.
Areas in Gippsland are shaping up as the next forest battleground. Environmental groups are concerned about wood-chipping in old-growth forests, logging in water catchments, and the impact of the loss of habitat on 12 endangered species of birds, animals and frogs. The group wants clear-felling banned in all Victorian forests and all logging ended in areas worthy of conservation.
The move could set the scene for a repetition of the conflict in the Otways forests in the lead-up to the 2002 election. This eventually led Premier Steve Bracks to agree to phase out logging in the Otways by 2008.
Campaign spokesman Luke Chamberlain, from Environment East Gippsland, said two years had been spent mapping significant areas of forest that he said should be protected from logging. He said Victoria's state-owned forests were being turned over to woodchips, which were mainly sent for export and were no longer providing a great number of jobs. "It's a land grab to turn the old-growth forests into woodchip farms," Mr Chamberlain said.
Environment groups involved in the coalition, including the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and the Central Highlands Alliance, will focus on several marginal seats in regional Victoria and suburban Melbourne. They include Labor's Ferntree Gully, Mt Waverley, Prahran, Mordialloc, Bentleigh and South Barwon, and Liberal marginals Nepean, South-West Coast and Bass.
They hope to reinforce the message that logging in catchment areas is continuing while water restrictions are being introduced in Melbourne.
Mr Chamberlain denied that the group would automatically support the Greens, saying they would endorse whichever party had the strongest environmental policy. But he said the Greens' policies were the best they had seen so far.
Independent MLA for the seat of Gippsland East, Craig Ingram, said the group was seeking to end all old-growth logging in his electorate, which would jeopardise up to 500 jobs. "Basically 85 per cent of old-growth is already reserved," Mr Ingram said.
He said banning logging in old-growth forests would affect the industry "everywhere east of Bairnsdale", and would hit saw-millers hard. The issue was important to voters in the timber towns of Cann River and Orbost and on into Bairnsdale. "It would be absolutely devastating to my community -- basically, death by a thousand cuts," Mr Ingram said. "It really has the potential to be a winner or a loser at the election, and I'd call on the major political parties to hold the line and protect the industry."
Mr Ingram said the environmental group was highly organised and had been putting serious pressure on all MPs. "They are spending as much time in Parliament House as some of the members of Parliament," Mr Ingram said."
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