A BLACK DAY

October 31 will be known BLACK WEDNESDAY in the logging industry for a long time to come. To think that Ivan Dean could possibly be voted out of office as Launceston’s Mayor is a disgraceful situation. He has been a champion for our jobs and clearly Launceston’s voters have totally misread the situation.

The thought of Ivan Dean spending time with his grandchild when he could have been out there fighting for the logging industry’s future, and to save jobs in the industry, well it is very disappointing and it is an enormous loss. Ivan himself does not blame “the pulp mill” for his demise and all we can do is to hope that it wasn’t.

Ivan Dean has come out and said (paraphrased) the system is all wrong when mayors only have a two year tenure. He is right, when you get someone in such a position, and someone like Ald. Dean who has worked so hard for the pulp mill ... and other right minded issues. It is so wrong to allow people like Ivan Dean to be removed by a fickle, and wrong thinking, electorate. He is so right and it is so, so wrong that he has no longer there.

In the meantime, the industry has a lot of work to do in winning more subsidies to help many workers leave the logging industry as the resource becomes more plantation based ... and Tasmania is increasingly cleaned up. Thankfully Ivan Dean will still be a member of the Legislative Council and Launceston’s Council. So he will be able to keep on fighting for more subsidies and for loggers to continue to have access to Tasmania's resources.

Nonetheless, none of this makes this day any the less BLACK. In fact it is a BLACK RIBBON DAY and a sorry day for Tasmania.

A BEAUTIFUL SKY?

Occasionally you can look up in Tasmania and see the vapour trail of a north bound jet. It would be reassuring to know that there was a good number of blowin naysayers on board and travelling on one way tickets.

The logging industry needs for them to be there so that it can get on with cleaning up Tasmania’s forests and making them more productive. Without question Tasmania is here for Tasmanians and the industry knows that we have their support.

We can only hope for a future where it is recognised that the logging industry actually holds Tasmania’s future in its hands. Those who cannot see this, and all the evidence that supports all this, need to be elsewhere so that the industry can work efficiently and deliver on the Tasmanian promise.

The logging industry is open for business and always ready to deliver. It has one thing to say to blowin naysayers, please buy a one way ticket and head north. Enough already!

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

The logging industry awaits the day when this kind of pathetic photographic propaganda is stopped. Burnt wilderness, devastation and God only knows what. It has to be stomped on, and from a great hight, before it all gets out of hand.

Usually these pictures are taken in some very remote place and of a very small section of a harvested area after a burn off. The reality is quite different.

These pictures are feeble attempts at truth by assertion. Anyone who is seriously in touch with what’s actually going on in Tasmania’s forests knows that all this humbug is sheer embellishment.

They would also know that when Tasmania gets its promised pulp mill all the left over forest will be fed into a power station next to it. All wastage will be avoided!

That will also save a lot of water stored in Tasmania's dams and also, it will make much more energy available to be fed into the national energy grid. And what is more to the point, it will be clean and carbon neutral, and it goes on from there. Isn’t that the sort of thing these tin pot picture takers are looking for?

It’s fascinating isn’t it that the so called “autumn atomic clouds” will not be there anymore. And Tasmanians will have access to cheaper electricity too. This will be a new way for the logging industry to make a difference and one that will touch every Tasmanian.

If the logging industry didn’t clean up after itself all hell would break loose. The industry has simply found a more productive way forward and enough is enough. The industry is simply committed to a tidier Tasmania and creating more jobs in the process.

When will all this nonsense end?

MELONS THE LOT OF THEM

It’s all getting a bit too much. All these naysayers are starting to get underfoot. The logging industry is simply trying to do its best to clean up Tasmania and they just keep on popping out of the woodwork.

If you drop one you will soon discover that they are pink in the middle – or ‘pinko’ communists for those born after the Cold War ended. These melons just have no place in today’s Tasmania.

Now we understand that the Premier has offered his services to (paraphrased) ride shotgun on the bulldozer that scrapes the Greenies out of the way as work begins on the pulp mill. That would make the news. But the logging industry expects that it can count on an expremier, a couple of legal advisors, a banker or two and others to cover him from behind.

Its all working out OK really and its good to know that the logging industry has won the support that it has. It is time to move on!

PRETTY AS A PICTURE

It is about time some reality was injected into all these threats that something is going to be lost. Once these pictures have been taken and hung in art museums its time to get on with the job. Just go to – http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/weblog/article/endangered – and take a look!

Nothing essential will be lost in the long run. The logging industry has a plan to clean up these areas and create spectacular vistas, renewed vistas even, that will challenge this redundant old world view. Its time for change and the logging industry can deliver.

There are some questions that need to be answered. How many people can actually earn a ‘real’ living taking these sorts of pictures? Who needs messy unproductive landscapes? How long will it take to clean this stuff up? And there are more!

Clearly all the pictures that need to be taken have been and now it’s the logging industry’s turn to take the logs! As for untidy uneconomic landscapes, nobody really needs that sort of thing. And yes it will take little while to inject some order into scenery like this but that’s the legacy ‘we’ (the logging industry, government, the present generation, etc.) will be leaving the future. Like us they will have to make the most of what they have been left with.

When all the trees a regrown in rows, and are all the same size, these panoramas and tender wildernesses will be improved no end! In the meantime there will be jobs for all kinds of people in a struggling economy. And, there will be new opportunities for the next generation of picture takers too.

Something is going to be won, little will be lost and Paul will have left his imprint on these hitherto wasted scenes. His monument to the future whatever happens. It’s win, win all round!

SPECIAL EDITION

LIAS have commissioned a special edition of Tshirts for people in the logging industry. Numbers are strictly limited and they will be made available to industry members on a first come first served basis.

To secure yours simply email Bushmount Productions at bushmount@eftel.com with "Loggers Tshirts" in the subject box.

PROUDLY TASMANIAN

The logging industry is the heart and soul of what has become “THE TASMANIAN WAY”. The industry increasingly sets new standards for patriotism as it looks after Tasmania’s, and Tasmanians’, interests.

The logging industry is out there flying the corporate flag and engaging with Tasmania’s international and interstate tourists. Indeed, the industry has become the cornerstone of “BRAND TASMANIA.”

Log truck drivers know all this because hire car drivers usually toot loudly at approaching trucks and very often they can be seen waving at them through their rear view mirrors. Typically, truck drivers return the courtesy by responding with a loud blast on their horn. It really adds to the “TASMANIAN EXPERIENCE”.

The logging industry is at the front line and it delivers. Our drivers are great ambassadors too. If they are not approaching you on just about every road they are just behind you or they are just over the horizon.

Onwards and upwards Tasmania! Loggers are working on a neater blue green Tasmania where all the trees grow in rows.

We can't afford to lose him

Watching the debate the other night, me and my mates were struck by the same idea..."No way Australia can survive without this man".
Look, Johnnie's been a great mate to we loggers over the years, he's given us buckets of cash, made Mal approve the pulp mill, he even talked to us in the Albert Hall in Lonnie.
Without him Australia could be doomed. Diminishing logging subsidies, real environmental laws with teeth, some kind of worry about cutting down forests...chaos in other words.
Labor's team is OK but inexperienced. If we leave them in opposition a few more years they'll get the experience they need. Until then...leave Johnnie alone.
He's our mate.

COMPETITION POLICY

The logging industry has no problem with competition or any policy that advocates it. On the other hand, just how it works is a problem in too many cases.

Getting public attention, and empathy, is an important concern and there are many ways to deal with it.

The euphemism “The Elephant in The Room” transposed to “The Elephants in The Forest” becomes a difficulty. The dilemma here is naming the elephants. And, that’s just the half of it.

Anyone got any ideas?

Just for the record...

We are writing to alert you to the need for your government to increase the various subsidies and favours for the logging industry in the coming budget period, and to advise of the ongoing need for you to plan for further increases in subsequent periods.
As you know, logging can only grow as an industry if a supply of suitable land is made available to us. Given that the most desirable land is currently under food production, it has only made sense for us to expand into the food production sector. The PAL Act is working brilliantly to push farmers off their land by preventing development and thus lowering land values, thereby placing it within reach of our industry. Nevertheless things are still moving slower than we’d like. To remain internationally competitive we need more income and, due to the long growth cycle of trees, we need to compensate by accepting the money up front.
We have carried out our share of the bargain with the pulp mill proposal, and set the context for substantial increases in cash flow for its beneficiaries (i.e. trickle down economics).
There has been collateral damage to other industries like tourism, but you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs!
The state government has defined trees as an agricultural crop and therefore suitable for Tasmania’s best soils. Federal MIS plantation schemes have funded our efforts at the rate of $9,000 per ha as an upfront payment.
But, at the end of the day, logging is a commercial industry that must grow and, given the nature of international competition in the high volume/low value wood commodity markets, must continue to rely on the existing subsidies and other arrangements and; of course, add to those arrangements to allow for increases in the costs of living.
Given the massive contribution to the state’s economy by the logging industry, and its enormous job rich future, we believe that an increase is well overdue. Rather than the piffling amount of $800 million over 20 years proposed by those Round Table boofheads, we're proposing $3 billion over 20 years to form a minimum, perhaps with double 'balloon' payments under agreed 'outcome' conditions, perhaps connected to clearance rates.
I remain, yours...

Caption Contest

This enlightening picture from someone calling themselves "Concerned" who also wrote, in handwriting on the back of the picture, 'Dunno who took this here, but it looks like Airdie? Whaddaya reckon?"
We reckon well done 'concerned'.
First for contacting us, the correct place to bring any unusual concerns and; secondly, for not making some stupid joke.
Speaking of stupid jokes, we invite our readers to put their best caption for this photo into our comment section.

Off to the fair

As I was going to the fair,
I saw a man who wasn't there,
When the people moved away from the wall,
I saw he wasn't there at all.

This is a brilliant metaphor for the situation that exists in the logging industry in Tasmania today. A whole bunch of irrelevant actors (like the Greens and Wildos) are taking positions that are being interpreted as meaningful by the public at large.
If only they knew! As soon as the Greens etc change position, the situation clarifies and resolves back to the doorway so we can see our way forwards.
We could go through the doorway into the light but there's a tree in the way so we need loggers to clear the damn thing. Then, with confusion and tree cleared, we can all move forward into the light at last.

LOGGING INDUSTRY TOO MUCH MALIGNED

Somewhere over North East Tasmania

Technology has allowed the logging industry to lift its game. Once upon a time loggers had to get a bit here and a bit there leaving an untidy mess behind.

Nowadays its possible to do a really thorough job and leave the site just as you want to find it. The replacement trees can now all grow in convenient rows making it easier to keep things just right.

If there is any doubt about the industry’s performance its possible for just about anybody to take a really close look. Google Earth provides that chance. It’s very simple, all that needs to be done is:
• go to http://earth.google.com/ ;
• choose the particular option that works best for you; and
• take a look at a logging area anywhere you like in Tasmania.

Gone are the days when you have to take the logging industry’s word or get in your car to take a look for yourself. Anybody can do an audit and see for themselves just how well the industry is cleaning up Tasmania.

Thank goodness for all the new technologies available to the industry and the public. The truth will win through every time!

TIE CODE

John Howard seems to be ignoring marketing advice. On the Great Debate last night he wore a dark blue tie, which we suppose was a very Liberal thing to do. However advice was been around all week that he should choose something pastel like powder blue, pale yellow, pink or even pastel green.

Kevin Rudd took the advice and went pink and grey and it seems to have worked for him.

Now the logging industry knows that Howard is on side and that he came in for us last election. This time round he might have capitalised on marketing advice and sent out the coded message that despite everything he was a bit greenish, just like the logging industry really is. We’d know then he was subtly going for the industry and it would have been just that little bit reassuring even if it was in code.

In the picture here the colour of his tie has been changed (it was blue) to demonstrate the point. You see, he looks more logger-friendly and what’s more it would put the Greens off their stroke.

We keep looking for these little signs of support and they are important to the logging industry and the ways members might vote.

LOGGING IN THE WILDERNESS

The logging industry is totally understanding of the situation in the Tasmanian wilderness. Yes, a very large part of Tasmania is locked up in reserves and for the most part this is appropriate. These places need to be left alone and the industry has little interest in them.

Largely they are areas that can only be accessed on foot and the logs to be found there are of relatively poor quality. When the logging industry is derided for wanting more and more areas unlocked it is, largely, being vilified without credible foundation.

The logging industry acknowledges that these areas are isolated with few roads into them, that log recovery would not be cost effective and that the land areas have values the logging industry is not particularly interested in.

Because these "locked up" areas are not managed for profit they are basically untidy and in time the industry imagines that the gates will be unlocked so this land can be tidied up and turn a profit. Already it’s possible to see where the industry has been because the land is tidy and the trees are all growing in nice clean straight lines.

Furthermore, while these 'reserves' are there it strengthens the arguments the industry needs to put forward from time to time. Mostly, for greater access to logs, and land, on the margins. Time is on the logging industry’s side and all it needs to do is wait its turn.

“Wilderness” is a fabulous idea and as time progresses the way it will be understood will change as will the logging industry. Change is inevitable.

WELL IT’S ONLY MONEY

The logging industry needs a more direct line to the subsidies made available to it. It’s ridiculous that the subsidies are imagined to be disguised when every switched on logger knows that they are there and finding their way right into their income column.

Taxpayers also know that subsidies are going into the logging industry's coffers. It’s a deserving cause and there is no need to pretend that it isn’t. MIS investors seem happy enough with the arrangements by which plantations can help the logging industry out.

If it looks like money is being burnt, don’t worry. Now while there is a scorching smell in the air, little or no money is lost or at least it isn’t without there being some kind of backhander.

Now Paul and Bob have exposed the wood supply agreement for the proposed pulp mill. There was nothing to hide. It’s all out in the open but it’s not so clear just how the increased subsidies the logging industry needs will be delivered.

The need is urgent. Loggers need more money more quickly in order to get the harvest in before someone calls time out and everything changes.

Invest now in plantations so that the logging industry can get on with creating JOBS, JOBS, JOBS … or generating DIVIDENDS, DIVIDENDS, DIVIDENDS, … or buying TAXES BREAKS, TAXES BREAKS, TAXES BREAKS, … or whatever, depending on where it is in the food chain you happen to be ranked.

And, what about John and Erica Citizen? Now that’s a question that’d be best addressed to them.

COULD THIS BE YOU!!!

YES! Forests Now! is looking for logging friendly reporters and journalists to take up some of the massive load of presenting logging activities to the public. We need people who are insightful, sensitive and who have a complete understanding of the role forestry plays in human and personal development.
If you think you might fit the bill for this rewarding (personally that is, not money) and vital task, please drop your application to longfield@tassie.net.au labelled Forests Now Reporter. You could join our award winning field of investigative and photo journalists and springboard your career into the big leagues.
Think about it then act. You'll always thank yourself in the future.

Government undercuts plantation investors

Lookit, Big John has done it again!! He's suckered Bob G and his mates over at Forestry Tas into totally undercutting the insane price expected by plantation 'investors' by nearly $20 per tonne!!
Course, Bob says that plantation timber produces more pulp so Gunns will have an incentive to use it...pigs arse! What, does Bob think we've gone all weak minded and are going to pay $20 per tonne over the odds just to keep some Pitt Street tree farmers in Porsches? What John has effectively achieved is to reset the price of wood supply to below $20 per tonne and if the Pitt St boys don't like it, they can take their wood elsewhere.
HAH HAH HAAAAH

WHAT’S IN THE FUTURE?

When some of this mob goes out in the forest, and wonders anything, they need to have a good sense of history.

Look at Europe and its forests. They have been turned over tons of times. There is always a future and we can shape it.

The logging industry in Tasmania works on specific, and specialised, scientific information provided by Government.

Of course there will be a future and given half a chance the logging industry will take care of it. It is in the industry’s self interest to work on the future. How else are its members to fund their superannuation.

Invest your super in the logging industry and your investment will be as safe as. Trust us! We do.

Forestry Tasmania says...

Poor Danielle Ecuyer. Another who doesn't understand how forestry works in Tasmania.
Here, straight from Forestry Tasmania's own website she could have learned...

Our forest management practices are helping the planet. Whenever an area of state forest is harvested, it is re-grown using techniques that mimic nature.

and

In time native forest harvesting will come to be regarded as the ultimate in sustainability and its products will achieve eco premium prices.

Once more for the Greens out there...

Tasmania’s state forests are sucking carbon from the atmosphere at the rate of around one million tonnes per year, thanks to Forestry Tasmania’s management strategies.

You can see examples of our work all around Tasmania...

To learn more visit our website at http://www.forestrytas.com.au/ You want science, we give you science. Read and learn people.

UNFORTUNATE TASMANIAN INHIBITIONS

It is about time the non-forestry section of the Tasmanian economy realised just how important, and big, the logging industry is.

Basically it has delivered the Tasmanian Government, and its agencies, with a whole bunch of really good staffers. They know just how much loggers appreciate their efforts and loggers know the right way to tell them. Unfortunately outside influences keep on holding them and the industry back.

Regrettably there are Tasmanians who are paid much less than they are worth. Yet loggers somehow manage to forge ahead generating wealth, jobs and new opportunities for these Tasmanian gems.

If only we could do more for them, so they could do more for loggers, so loggers might do more in the JOBS, JOBS, JOBS department etc. etc. The day will come.

Advertisement. Cryptic Joe says...

More weeks of the big fella turning up sozzled after being chauffered round while he lays bets on the ponies all morning. Next a long lunch followed by all means necessary to avoid any further decision making for the day. He showed up for the State of...speech. What a lot of bulldust. The poor buggers who are suffering in our state aren't going to get much comfort from a man who spends up big on gambling and racing, both personally and with State money.
Everything the big fella does is a stuff up, Basslink, Spirit III, LGH, Elwick, you name it, if he's involved that's the outcome. On the health front we hear that Lara is getting her instructions directly from the big fella. For state business, perhaps there should be a breathalyser in the parliament?

TRAINING CAMP REVEALED!!! Exclusive

Once again, ahead in the news, Forests Now! uncovers a secret and sophisticated forestry protest training camp located at an undisclosed location near Oatlands, in Tasmania.

Frightening truth!
Our fearless undercover forestry investigators have now revealed the frightening truth, even smuggling out candid pictures of young bodies hurling themselves into professional assault courses and practicing other disruptive techniques. We reveal a forestry protest training camp that takes innocent young Aussies and twists their unformed minds through brainwashing and assault courses, turning them into mindless anti-forestry automata who will climb bridges, sit on top of poles and otherwise create mayhem in our forests and in our society.
Destroying young minds
We even found 'mini-assault' courses especially for young children, who were swarming up and down scaled down bridges to practice for their later careers inconveniencing the public while on the dole. It's time to sit up and take notice people. Our world is going to pieces and we need your help to stop it. More as news comes to hand.

A BRIDGE TOO FAR

These types who climbed up the bridge to make their point seem to have probably missed it.

No worries however. Now, if they got Pricilla down to give them a hand that would have been a tourism drawcard for the Tamar. She would make wonderful Queen of The Forests.

We say build the mill and then we can have a series of permanent installations of queens and angels up on this bridge overlooking a clean green pulp mill.

There would be tourism jobs in it plus some real jobs for out of work artists. Even some tour guide jobs helping international visitors scale the bridge. Possibly even a bit of bungy jumping too

The police needn’t even hunt them down as they would know where to find them. They simply need to be present occasionally in a crowd control role.

In case anyone wonders how we came up with this, it is an outrageous Green thing to do. But, it has a very big future.

EXCLUSIVE - Bridge protest pix!!!

Forests Now! is proud to present EXCLUSIVE shots of bridge protestors in action at the very top of the notorious Batman bridge over the Tamar river.

Over the last few days, radical protestors have occupied the top of the infamous Batman Bridge to make a point that we refuse to give any oxygen to (refreshing that SOME media outlets have some real ethics isn't it?). The protestors can clearly be seen at the top of the bridge pylon, impeding people going about their lawful business.

Police moved swiftly and had the protestors down in just a few days, opening the bridge to 'lawful use' by others who needed to occupy the top of the tower.

Just a thought, but shouldn't protestors try to make their point without creating such massive inconvenience to other lawful users of the bridge structure. Their signs (see photo) might distract motorists, who could swerve violently into the path of oncoming traffic thereby threatening a disaster in the making. Their encampment, clearly visible at the top of the pylon, was also preventing other lawful users from accessing the top of the pylon.

The protestors have now been charged by police and Forests Now! stands ready to provide its EXCLUSIVE photos as evidence for a modest fee.

Post another win for Forests Now! A landmark in photojournalism.

GREENS HALF RIGHT

Bob Brown is getting up a bit of a trot on the current election trail. He is reminding us of the Greens’ mantra “no environment no economy” ... well we think that’s how it goes.

So far as it goes, the logging industry has to half agree. Forests are workplaces and the logging industry works in them extracting everything that is conveniently available. The industry really wants to get more out them.

So thanks for the reminder Bob, it is much appreciated and very timely. A paperless world was a nice idea but we now know it was a myth, and anyway we need the work.

Economies are there to produce jobs, forests provide jobs only if we are allowed to exploit them. So long as we have an environment to exploit we will have a good economy and one that will give us jobs, nicer cars, better homes and longer holidays.

Bob Brown can always be counted on to be lurking somewhere in the fernery or under a rock. While he may be (well sort of) on the right track with his mantra it definitely needs to followed very very selectively. Otherwise all kinds of jobs will disappear.

It all about JOBS Bob … JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!

ANTI PULP MILL ACTIVISTS SURVEY NO 1

A survey of anti-pulp mill people reveals some interesting information. It is obvious that the Lennon Government needs to spend more money educating these people. LIAS resources are limited but the need to spend more is there to be seen.

Those surveyed all lived in Tasmania and scientific methods were used. To avoid slanting the survey great efforts were made to ensure that there was a gender balance and ensure that the survey crossed the social divides found in the Tasmanian community.

Other surveys are in progress so answer the questions carefully if someone approaches you with a clipboard asking you about yourself. The information you give will possibly be used.

IS THIS NONESENCE ART?

If you think that this stuff might be art then we suggest that you are out of your tree. The Weld Angel is totally misguided to be kind but in the end its just plain old seditious claptrap. Rubbish it is, art it certainly is not!

The logging industry has for far too long been exposed to this kind of renegade nonsense that masquerades under the ‘free speech’ banner. Free speech is alright so far as it goes but when it interferes with the legally sanctioned work of the logging industry it has no place in today’s Tasmania.

Pleading guilty and throwing yourself upon the mercy of the court, and in the name of art, just is not on anymore.

These freaky longhaired artist types need to go out and get a real job. The minimum penalty needs to be at least a hundred thousand dollars and taken out offenders’ dole if need be. Then the industry can go to the government for adequate compensation without it costing honest taxpayers anything.

Art schools that produce this kind student should to be closed down until they undertake to moderate the behaviour of their students. They certainly shouldn’t give them professional qualifications.

The cost to the logging industry is enormous and the pittance the police claim were their costs is in all probability a gross underestimate. So too would be what Forestry Tasmania is claiming to be their costs.
As usual the legal people underestimate the real costs to the logging industry. This stuff must stop.

The Government needs to get behind the logging industry and enact some laws with real teeth. There is no place for art (assuming that it is art) like this in Tasmania.

Members of this ratbag fringe are mostly on the dole or some other social benefit of some misfit allowance or other. Their behaviour is outrageous. Their money supply should be cut off and quick smart. A slap on the wrist and good behaviour bond is just not enough.

WHAT’S THE COST OF TRANSPARENCY

Some pollies is calling for the wood supply agreement between Forestry Tasmania and Gunns to be made public.

On what planet do these people reside?

How does anyone expect Gunns to negotiate finance for anything they do if their competitors and opponents have all the details of their commercial arrangements?

Of course there are subsidies involved, we could't afford to operate without them. It is all about jobs, jobs, jobs people.

Gunns will tell their financiers all they need to know and the government, of course, already knows all it needs to know. What more is there for the public to know? People wouldn't have voted for the government if they didn't trust them!

The Government looks after the community’s interest in regard to commercial matters such as resource supply. We vote our governments in to do a job and the last thing a company depending on a government owned resource needs to deal with, is open access to commercial information.

The job is there to be done and the loggers are ready and willing to do it.

By now everyone should know that jobs are at stake here. If the public wants to share in the profits large companies make from subsidies and the exploitation of government owned resources there is a simple way to do it. Buy company shares and sit back and collect the dividends. You can do it individually or insist that your superannuation fund does it.

After all is said and done, it’s all about profits and the jobs and taxes the profits generate. It's time for some of these pollies to do a reality check.

PAL, in a nutshell!

Tasmania’s Protection of Agricultural Land Act (PAL) is a step in the right direction - at last. And we have Paul Lennon to thank for its farsighted approach to agriculture.

The Act does two things well, it defines plantation trees as an agricultural crop, and it stops non-plantation ‘development’ on agricultural land thus protecting the land for our future. We know that the future belongs to forestry, so the land should be protected for forestry.

For thousands of years, trees covered Tasmania and protected the land. Then along came white settlers and started cutting it all down and building houses and stuff all over the place. Now it’s a shambles with silly little farms and crap everywhere.

The answer is PAL, no question. Get people living in urban centres where they're happier and closer to the shops (cutting transportation fuel needs and thereby protecting our delicate environment), leaving the rural areas to trees, that protect the land just like in history.

There's lots of benefits to PAL for loggers of course. We can more easily acquire the land we need from farmers, Nitens is recognised as an agricultural crop (at last) and we can spray (as is our right) without worrying too much about drift.

Another important advantage plantations bring is that all the trees being harvested can be clearfelled and provide the logging industry with a consistent product. All the trees will be the same age and same size. This means less waste and that is a real bonus

So there you go. All the details in a nutshell. More later.

IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON”T FIX IT

There is strong argument for leaving well enough alone, except in our forests of course. John Howard and Paul Lennon have really been working well for us, although JH will likely be sacrificed of course.

As PM, Howard seems to have Malcolm Turnbull on a chain and appears well able to keep him there. Then again, Premier Lennon has shown that he can work with almost anyone to get done what needs to be done.

In the weeks ahead we need to keep a close eye on these two players if we are to have a future in the Tasmanian forests be they native forests or plantations.

Howard is up for election and Lennon isn’t but in the end Howard will have the grunt to get done what we need to get done.

Together Howard and Lennon are a formidable pair and they are prepared to enact whatever laws that need to be there to get Tasmania’s anti-progress seditious longhairs out from under foot in our forests.

Consider the alternatives!

It may be OK but could Rudd and Lennon work together under Gunns. Maybe, but it is something to consider isn’t it?

LEADERSHIP?

Well we are off and running - Howard and Rudd are out there on the hustings espousing their leadership abilities. However, if we are looking for a leadership model in Tasmania we need look no further than John Gay, even if he is not standing for a parliamentary seat.

John Gay sticks to his guns. He does the groundwork and has surrounded himself with people who provide him with the information he wants to take him and Tasmania ever onward in the so-called Tasmanian forestry debate.

He hangs in there through thick and thin, forging the way forward despite all the obstacles the rat bag populist fringe can throw up. He knows his business, and gets the information and approvals he wants, as Gunns own shareholders appreciate.

John Gay has set a standard that Howard and Rudd would do well to emulate. When John Gay believes something he not only believes, he acts upon it and charges ahead no matter what.

He gets things done and he has no time for anything that gets in his way.

The anti-progress crew are always trying to rain on his parade, but he outshines them every time with his quick wit and incisive acumen. Their latest bit of misinformation being that his mill’s pollution outfalls will exceed that of all of Sweden’s pulp mills put together. What a lot of unscientific tosh!

Tasmania was an economic basket case and the politicians claim that they have turned that around. Rubbish, it was John Gay.

John Gay is Tasmania’s logger par excellence. He is about John Howard’s age but is a fine figure of a man with a lot more go in him. Gunns shareholders need to increase his salary by a couple million as he is going to make Tasmania an even better place.

Save the negative bulldust and follow John Gay.

In the end it will be him who will deliver the jobs, not Howard, Rudd or any of the politicians throwing their hats in the ring.

If we were electing a President at this election John Gay would win hands down in my book.

ELECTION 07 AND FORESTRY

Opinion Piece By Jack Bower

Whatever result we get, as long as it's Labor or Liberal, we're in. So relax and enjoy a few slabbies. Who cares who wins as long as it's us!!

With hopes of retaining his Tassie seats, John Howard heads into six weeks of phony election campaigning. Liberal Party polling states that his Government's approval for the Gunns pulp mill will boost his chances in the state's key seats.

There's a message there to the other states to get into pulp mills?

Liberal polling is saying that Coalition support is rising in all Tasmanian electorates except Lyons, which seems to have been since Ben Quin began speaking out against the pulp mill project. If that's not proof positive that the electorate in Lyons wants a pulp mill then I don't know what is!

Lyon's Labor incumbent Dick Adams, is one of the pulp mills’ and the forest industry’s biggest supporters.

Biggest electorate, biggest incumbent! Makes sense to me.

If that trend continues then Howard is doomed! Long live K.Rudd!

Polls seem to be showing that Michael Ferguson is likely to lose his 3% hold on the seat to Labor's Jodie Campbell who has the advantage of really big hair and a nice smile. She's also pretty tight with Scott McLean, so we hear, so she's the one if you're in Bass.

Braddon is held by the Coalition with a margin of just over 1% but again it's pretty much a 'who cares' situation unless one of these creepy independents gets in.

BWAAH HAH HAW HAH, how likely is THAT folks?? Poor misguided buggers are fighting the future when they take on us loggers.

All of the candidates need to start spruiking forestry if they know what's good for them.

When the mill is built, Tasmania will be into the economic sunshine at last, joining pulp mill driven economies like Bolivia and Vietnam. I, for one, can't wait.

There will be more anti-mill rallies in Tasmania and on the Tamar, but so what. The pathetic Green resistance will soon collapse as their supporters realise which side their bread is buttered on. Any more of their poncing around and we'll have another rally for us workers. Makes a good day out on full pay I reckon.

Garrett has promised to make big changes to the Commonwealth's environment laws that were used to approve the project and, our insiders tell us this must mean, slacken them to buggery to encourage more forestry related activity.

As is now the fashion, Garrett seems to want to include a “climate change trigger”, hopefully that links directly to increasing logging activity. So far he's been silent on the future of MIS investments and subsidy levels but, if he has any sense (and that's so far pretty debatable) he'll increase both to the max!

Arch-enemy Bob Brown has done Garrett many favours by declaring their friendship over. That should boost Garrett's vote significantly.

So fellow wood tops, keep your eyes on the ball and don't think about your vote, just vote Labor and use the free time that you on the piss. The Tasmanian economy is still totally dependent on we loggers so we're in the drivers seat. Most of all, remember that it aint over till the fat lady sings.

Barry Chipman The Loggers’ Champ

Barry Chipman from Timber Communities Australia is a champion of the loggers' story. He knows the facts and that 40% of Tasmania’s land is covered by the Regional Forestry Agreement. And he knows all too well that it includes national parks and world heritage areas as well as other reserves.

Loggers need people like Barry to champion their cause. Timber Communities Australia, a network of community groups with a secretariat funded by the timber industry, and Barry is their primary advocate.

Barry Knows the history timber getting in Tasmania and that Tassie can claim a first here given that when Captain Cook arrived, and Abel Tasman, saw Tasmania as he says they saw this place “as a great place for timber to repair their ships and to build ships. It’s been part of Tasmania’s heritage ever since we were first settled.”

He asks us to imagine NSW with 40% (rather than the current 7%) of its land reserved away from any economic benefit as it is in Tasmania. There has been political interference in land-use decisions, and clearly that’s what’s been going on, all you have to do is look at the history. Every big Green forest debate seems to coincide with a federal or a state election. Since the late 1980s Tasmania has been subjected to political interference and Barry knows it and that a Federal election is upon us.

Barry also knows that in Tasmania our logging industry is very important and that it:
• contributes over a billion dollars to Tasmania’s economy;
• each year it employs 10,000 people; and
• it provides employment for a good percentage of Tasmania’s population.
He knows that the logging industry is not the only industry or even the only industry Tasmania needs. He accepts that tourism is great but, like any state, Tasmania needs a diverse range of industries, and Tasmania’s forest industry is that diverse range of industries.

As Barry says “It (logging and forestry) provides the heart and soul for many small communities throughout Tasmania, as well as big ones.”

Thanks Barry the logging industry needs you and your kind if it is ever to realise its potential. We have a long way to go yet! Good on you Barry keep on leading the way! Barry you're a champ!

SOME BALD TASMANIAN FACTS

Tasmania is about 155 miles off the south coast of mainland Australia. It is about the same size as Ireland, and its population (450,000 plus) is around the same as that of Liverpool in the UK.

Only five per cent of Australia is forested as it is the driest continent on Earth. A High proportion of Australia's forests are in Tasmania, Australia's southernmost state. Native forest covers about 50% of the island.

Tasmania's endemic wildlife includes the Tasmanian devil, Forester Kangaroo, Fairy Penguin, Quoll and eleven bird species.

Tourism in Tasmania provided just 22,000 jobs in 2004.

TASMANIAN FORESTRY FACTS

• Only 20,000 hectares of native forest are harvested in Tasmania every year.

• Only 80,000 hectares of native forest have been converted to non-native plantations in the last few years.

• Tasmania exports more woodchips than every other state in Australia combined.

• A large proportion of wood taken from native forests become woodchips, for export and about 4% is fit for sawn timber.

• Just 14,600 hectares of native forest were harvested In 2003. 6180 hectares were replanted with native trees and much of the rest was replaced by fast-growing plantations.

• The rate of logging in Tasmania has risen in the last 10 years. Logging companies' are increasing. Nonetheless, thousand of jobs have been lost as the industry has been mechanised.

The Pulp Mill Fight

It would be just be too crazy not to put up a piece on the proposed pulp mill.

This mill will be Tasmania's salvation but it looks like there is a way to go yet. When will the umpire’s word ever be enough?

Malcom Turnbull, Minister for the Environment has approved the Tamar Valley pulp mill, with some additional conditions imposed, and it;s astounding that the comments being made by mill protesters could be made with a straight face. Enough is enough.

Approval was always going to be delivered and the assessment and approval process was always going to be positive. But, the Greens, the Wilderness Society, Geoff Cousins etc. think that they have legal opinions saying that the conditional approval cannot be made. Get real, for God’s sake just how long can this thing be strung out?

The State or Federal Governments need to give them more funding to meet the costs of the additional requirements and the ongoing monitoring. Australia needs this mill and so does Tasmania, but why should the industry pay for all the approval process costs.

The big problem with the Commonwealth approval is the Terms of Reference. The Commonwealth need only assess the mill on it's impact on listed threatened species and communities, and listed migratory species, and on the mill’s construction site specifically. When will these no sayers get out of the picture and let us get on with it?

The Chief Scientist has done an assessment of the scientific aspects of the DEWR report, relevant supporting documentation and public comments and it's the thumbs up.

It’s entirely appropriate that Paul Lennon’s approval process should not be interfered with.

There is an additional 24 conditions being placed on the proposal and related to the terms of reference. Clearly, "the science supports the mill".

This is where the misinformed, the stupid, the ignorant, and the gullible mill protesters are so mistaken in the claim that they speak “from the high ground”.

Well you clowns, the fight is a long way from being over and there are many thousands of intelligent and articulate people in the logging industries prepared to stand up for their beliefs and timber rights and their wish to get this mill up and running!

Bring it on, stand up and be counted, protest, get rough and even arrested if need be.

Whoever pays the piper calls the tune, and that's us!

Kimbo comes good

Beazley backs Tasmanian pulp mill
AAP | October 11, 2007

FORMER federal opposition leader and deputy prime minister Kim Beazley has waded into Tasmania's pulp mill debate, saying the $1.7 billion project "would be a boon for the state". Speaking in Hobart today, Mr Beazley acknowledged the Gunns Ltd mill had the potential to become a political powderkeg going into the election.

Mate, Beezo's a hero on our book. It's about time some people in the know started to educate the dim buggers down here who don't recognise the value they get from logging.

Yeah pulp mill. Bring it on!

LIAS POSTBOX

LIAS aims to facilitate the exchange of news between individuals and corporations in its advocacy group. Simply, post your contributions in the comments section below and that is attached to this call for news.

Get it out there otherwise the cause will be lost!

The new voice of logging in Tasmania

Tasmanian Branch
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
We present Logging Industry Advocacy Services (LIAS) - a fearless advocate for the industry destined to make Australia’s future.
At this time, we’d like to point out some vital truths about logging that seem to have been missed by our mainly Green media fellow travellers.
1) Trees capture and extract carbon dioxide from the air, thus protecting our planet from global warming. If our planet is getting too hot, it’s because we’re not doing enough logging. Remember that carbon is retained in the wood and the paper from trees so it’s our responsibility to keep harvesting trees to make room for more, as well as to create more wood products.
2) Plantations are good for our climate, and for our economy. When farmers sell to trees, it’s like an instant injection of capital into the bush, direct from Pitt St to rural communities. Federal MIS are making it possible for country dwellers everywhere to enjoy a future with more trees and, as a consequence, a better climate and a more secure future. Plantations are an essential ingredient to Australia’s future prosperity.
3) Log trucks are making local Councils widen their roads and strengthen their bridges, thereby making the roads better and safer for everyone. When next you’re on a country road, thank our industry for helping to assure its quality and security.
4) Pulp mills are good for everybody. Not only do they supply the raw materials for vital paper that keeps our economy turning, but they create huge numbers of jobs for local residents. All over the world, people are turning to pulp mills to help them to deal with economic problems like a poor balance of trade. Under strict state government controls, the Tamar pulp mill will be a boon to everyone in the Tamar and in Tasmania.
5) Subsidies are a key component of our industry’s profitability, without them we frankly couldn’t afford to take Tasmania’s trees at all. The greater the subsidies, the greater our profits - and that’s got to be good for everyone - after all the more subsidies we get, the more taxes we can afford to pay. Sadly, in recent years, subsidy levels have only managed to provide a little over $150 million per year (on average) to our industry leader and we believe that it is time to move to a more realistic subsidy level, over $250 million per year at least (not including special subsidies for the pulp mill of course).

Forest Sustainability

The Logging Industries Advocacy Service has been set up to support the logging industry and to advocate the better exploitation of Tasmania’s forests. Clearly, and contrary to much of what we read in the press, Tasmania’s forests are under exploited and far too much of Tasmania’s forest estate is locked up.

Unless this situation is addressed Tasmania will be economically disadvantaged. There actually needs to be more subsidies available for those with the means and the expertise to take advantage of the wealth locked up in forests. The opening up of forests to more expansive exploitation of the under utilised and valuable resources in Tasmanian forests and it must start now.

Join the fight to release the forests before it is too late! A sustainable logging industry is a must for Tasmania’s future!