Ancient forests' fight is on

The recent election in Tasmania (Australia) gave rise to serious concern about the future of the islands ancient forests. By close of voting it looked like the Greens party, protector of the State's fragile environment was on the road to annihilation.
By the end of last week the re-election of their fourth sitting member, Kim Booth, was confirmed. While the result does not put the Greens into any stronger position in the parliament it is an obvious cause for concern among the State’s forestry sector.
Since the election result was announce there has been a flurry of activity to mitigate any influence the Green’s and their community equivalent, the wilderness Society might now have.
The logging industry claims that Wilderness Society television advertisements screened during the election campaign advocated voting for the Greens and were political.
Logging industry representatives want the society's tax-deductible status reviewed by the Federal Government, saying the advertisements went beyond environmental advocacy to political advocacy.
Society campaign coordinator Geoff Law says the logging industry is trying to stifle debate."We ran the advertisements about old-growth logging with the intention of getting positive policies from all political parties."
Legal muscle on civil rights (Hobart Mecury)
That counterclaim comes as a legal push to protect corporate protesters from lawsuits, such as the Gunns 20 action get underway. More than 145 lawyers have backed a call for legal reform to protect freedom of speech and to make public participation in political debate a right.
The Gunning For Change report author Greg Ogle said legal action and threats scared people into silence.
"Lawsuits against community activists have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and the rights and abilities of the community to engage in political action."
Gunns Limited, Australia’s biggest hardwood sawmill and the world biggest hardwood woodchip exporter, is suing 20 environmentalists and groups, including federal Greens leader Bob Brown and The Wilderness Society, for more than $6 million.
So the concern expressed in our recent Democracy for Sale blog is somewhat lessened by these fascinating news pieces. I know first hand that the Tasmanian Forestry sector are an arrogant bunch who would barely raise a finger unless there was a very real threat.
For many years they believed that simply ignoring the conservationists, denying them airtime, would be enough to kill the threat. It didn’t.
That Gunns and others in the industry are now so active in fighting the threat to their freedom to destroy the ancient forests of Tasmania, including the threatened Florentine and Styx Valley’s shows more than anything that the fight is still well and truly alive.