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As a new resident of Tassie perhaps I see things in a slightly different light to the full-time locals, but I can't help being somewhat amused (or should that be 'bemused') by the blatantly open and naive corruption of the local politicians.
The Liberal Party might as well not exist down here, they are deathly quiet and practically invisible, apart from their leader's fortnightly bleat on talk-back radio that, yes, they are here to help us, the opportunity just hasn't come up yet.
The Greens are extremely noisy, but, apart from volume, have no power. At least I can remember the Greens leaders' name, Peg Putt, while the Libs leaders' name escapes me for the moment.
Who else do we have - oh yes, Labor --- well, I've voted Labor in every election we've had in the last 30 years, but these guys are beyond belief. Our Premier Lennon seems to be working solely for Gunns, the timber barons, greasing the path for the pulp mill that nobody else, apart from the timber workers, particularly wants to have in their backyard.
The body responsible for assessing the pro's and cons of the pulp mill didn't come up with the 'right' facts and figures, so they were by-passed. An independant company was hired to come up with an acceptable assessment - I've heard a rumor that the 'independant' company is a subsidiary of the company which will be contracted to build the mill, so their results might just be a little skewed.
A little story appeared buried on about page 12 of the local paper about a group of Tassie businessmen and other interested parties who visited a similar pulp mill in South America to see just how odor-free such a mill could be, and were sent staggering, puking and gasping for fresh air when some idiot left a hatch open that was normally closed to keep the stench in for the duration of such visits. Haven't heard any more about that one !!
We'll get our pulp mill - we have the finest government money can buy, and there's big money in paper pulp.
In the meantime, the log trucks continue to wreck the roads and frighten the tourists, the dairy farms and veggie growers are bought out by the timber planters, the rivers get muddier from the increased run-off from bare earth, the north of the state is continually blanketed in smoke from the trash fires and the pollies let the rest of the state's infrastructure crumble.
I'm not a greenie, I don't mind seeing money being made from available resources, but this pulp mill saga has brought out the bully-boy tactics, and I'm sure the current state government will pay a heavy price for their part in the whole sorry mess. ( Lennon's approval rating has plummeted to a new low of around 25%.) The individual pollies involved won't feel any pain, of course, that's reserved for the tourism people, and the fishermen, and anybody else who gets upset about big industry on a small island.
Perhaps our little government will spend some of it's new-found pulp revenue on the health system. This is a particular gripe of mine at present because my wife is an RN at the local hospital, and she is doing far too many 12-hour shifts because there are NO spare nurses in Tasmania, apparently !!
Please excuse the rant - I love living in Tassie, the weather and the people are most agreeable to me. The rules and regulations, or lack of them, here in the West suit me fine, and most of the time I find the politics amusing rather than frightening.
And, of course, there are trouts to be caught .....................
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Backyard Aquaponics
