Furious Political Thought

I know I usually keep this blog to knitting, our allotment, our holidays and general stuff. However, this is really starting to piss me off, and I just don't know what to do other than to let others know and ask for their help.

I grew up in Tasmania, which, for those who are unaware, is a smallish island off the south coast of Australia. There are around half a million people living there. It is known as a beautiful place, and the more I travel the more I realise that it really is spectacular. I know that everyone thinks that the place they come from is special, but Tasmania is unique in its natural beauty, and in the way of life that people continue to enjoy.

We grew up in the north, living along next to the Tamar river. Since I grew up, this has become a major wine production area. The river is a large estuary, and an important nursery ground for many fish and haven for all sorts of marine wildlife. When I was young, it was a bit risky to swim in the river. Since then, the river has been cleaned up in a number of ways and there are now seals, dolphins, pelicans, waterbirds and other visitors to the area.
So yep, I guess you get it. It is pretty special, to me and to others.

However, there is plans to build a pulp mill on this river, at one of the most beautiful parts. The local community is very much against this. The process for approval seems rife with loopholes and corruption. The mill will create all sorts of problems for the area. There are other places in Tasmania and Australia that want this mill in their community. It will impact on many aspects of the local environment, and provide further reasons to chop down our trees for chipping and pulp (a separate but related issue). Here are some links for further info about the company Gunns, and on the proposed mill (and some pictures of what the Tamar looks like), and from the Wilderness society.

I don't want to rave on too much, but it seems to me that this is another example of another small and unique part of the world being destroyed for commercial gain. While we are all looking at our own carbon footprint, and the wider ramifications of global warming, small communities struggle to maintain important local environments and in some cases need our wider support. If you think you would like to support our fight against a pulp mill in this area, there are details of who to contact and people to email here. The Wilderness society are another good source of information (http://www.wilderness.org.au/).

Thanks for reading. I am sorry I don't have any photos of this area at hand, but I will try to get some up soon.


You can find out more about Tasmania here.