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Election Comment ... and candidates
Editor
09.03.10 12:02 am
Responsibility for election comment is taken by the Editor, Lindsay Tuffin, 9 Phoenix St, Howrah, Hobart 7018. Meanwhile: Check out all the election candidates, HERE: http://www.electoral.tas.gov.au/
ALP’s attack ad claims on Pedder don’t stack up
Bob Burton
13.03.10 6:52 pm
The Labor Party faces the embarrassing prospect of having to pull its anti-Greens attack ad as a result of overstating by over 480% the contribution of the Lake Pedder scheme to the state’s electricity system.
Writers | Bob Burton | Politics | State | Economy | EnvironmentLake Pedder Restoration Committee Condemns Deceitful Claims in Labor Party Advertisement
Helen Gee Convenor Lake Pedder Restoration Committee
13.03.10 6:30 pm
The LPRC specifically rejects the claim that Lake Pedder supplies 33% of the state’s electricity. This claim is a wild exaggeration and deliberately deceitful. We are astonished that David Bartlett, with full access to the Hydro’s technical resources, would allow the Labor Party to deceive and alarm Tasmanians in this way. We believe David Bartlett should direct John Dowling to remove this absurd claim from the advertisement immediately.
Politics | Local | National | State | Economy | EnvironmentFears linger in paradise ... echoes of Tasmania?
Leigh Dayton, Science Writer, The Australian
13.03.10 5:16 pm
Her neighbour, Janelle Laing, agrees. “We’re not getting any answers out of the government bodies,” she says. “They’ve made no inquiries into our health. We’re finding it difficult to get any help from anywhere,” adds Laing, who’s particularly concerned as she and her husband, Graham, are expecting a visit from their eight-months pregnant daughter. Over a year on from media stories about double-headed fish embryos at her hatchery, owner Gwen Gilson is furious with the lack of action on local complaints of a suite of human health problems. They claim these range from gastrointestinal and bladder complaints, skin disorders and migraine to suspected cancers. Although unproven, Gilson, like her neighbours, fears the cocktail of agrichemicals the grower uses—and is permitted to use—to keep insects, moulds and assorted pests off his trees are getting into the tanks and creek that supply their household and drinking water, and with disastrous consequences.
Politics | State | Environment | HealthAtrazine: The word is well and truly out ...
Dr Alison Bleaney
13.03.10 5:10 pm
The Endocrine Society (International consensus of endocrinologists) and the American Medical Association last year stated quite clearly that atrazine is an endocrine disruptor, biologically active at parts per trillion, and is a threat to all fish, amphibians, reptiles, mammals and humans.
Politics | Local | National | State | Forestry | Gunns | Economy | Environment | HealthMark
13.03.10 2:01 pm
Our Common Ground: A new politics is needed: HERE
Cartoons | SatireLibLab ‘Gang of Four dinosaurs’ roar at Greens
Matthew Denholm, The Australian
13.03.10 9:00 am
He said most Tasmanians would react with “scepticism” to four “old . . . dinosaurs howling in frustration at a new dawn in Tasmania”. Mr McKim was not surprised the four men would “prefer a government with the absolute power that allows secrecy and cronyism, rather than a power-sharing arrangement that will deliver the stability and accountability”.
Politics | State | EconomyA Royal Commission, now: Peter Cundall in The Age Good Weekend (not online)
The Age. Picture: Peter Cundall's arrest outside Parliament
13.03.10 8:30 am
Sitting in his living room, the great galvaniser leans forward, holding up his hands, big, competent gardening hands. “I want to see a Royal Commission into the whole procedure by which this legislation was allowed to go through,” he says.
Politics | Local | National | State | Forestry | Gunns | Economy | EnvironmentAs Forestry ignites the first of 150 burns, Clive Stott despairs ...
Clive Stott, http://www.cleanairtas.com
13.03.10 7:20 am
Forestry begins its 150 fires: HERE: You might not know what is in the water…yet, but you certainly know what is in the air and you know it is pernicious planned burn smoke. You know where it is coming from, you know who is making it, and you know it causes cancer and asthma. It is 3am Dr. Taylor, Read my website to see why I am not in bed asleep?
Politics | Local | State | Forestry | Gunns | Economy | EnvironmentPaddy Manning SMH
13.03.10 12:33 am
Gunns faces big hurdles: under FSC principles, any plantation converted from native forest after 1994 is ineligible for accreditation. Gunns will not say what proportion of its plantations was converted since 1994, but many - especially in Tasmania - were grown on land cleared of old growth forest, often using napalm to burn off waste and 1080 bait to protect seedlings
Politics | Local | National | State | Forestry | Gunns | Economy | Environment | HealthAFP
13.03.10 12:15 am
About 20 angry nationalist protesters, waving Rising Sun flags and watched over by riot police, lined the pier the harpoon ship docked to and shouted through megaphones: “Step forward Pete Bethune! Apologise to the Japanese people! We will tear you apart!”
Politics | National | Economy | Environment | Legal | PersonalSt Helens Water – Let’s Wait for the Science
Dr Roscoe Taylor Director of Public Health. A response to A response to: Call for Roscoe Taylor to resign
12.03.10 7:08 pm
It seems bizarre to me that I am being criticised for endeavouring to provide reliable information to the St Helens community, in the aftermath of a situation where a media program has aroused human health concerns well in advance of any scientific confirmation.
Politics | Local | State | Forestry | Gunns | Economy | Environment | HealthOur Common Ground
12.03.10 3:58 pm
“It’s hard to look at Tasmania’s timber industry and think things are working,” said Dr Andrew Lohrey, a former Labor Forest Minister who also authorised the advert. “Jobs are vanishing, we’re losing native forests, companies can’t get financing and we are losing markets.”
Read more, Comment HERE
And,
OCG Community Forum, HERE
Cundall, Booth, Walsh, Bayley Dockray at water forum: HERE
Sue Neales, Mercury
12.03.10 3:03 pm
• Giving the state’s worst criminals the right to vote No surprise there ... on TT: HERE;
And Greens response…
Politics | StateA day in the life of Andrew Wilkie, aspiring MP
Kate Burton, writing HERE
12.03.10 2:45 pm
Steve is quick to state that he is no victim. He is reflective about his behaviour and knows it is ultimately he who must take responsibility for his life. However he knows enough about pokies and the way they work to know that, for addicts at least, the only solution is to rid society of them. Like an alcoholic who will always sniff out that hidden drink, ‘band aid’ solutions like self-exclusion policies, reduced operating hours and lower bet limits will not help a pokies addict.
Politics | State | Health | SocietyCall for Roscoe Taylor to resign
Dr Andrew Lohrey, Former Speaker of the House of Assembly and Cabinet Minister. Dr David Obendorf, veterinary pathologist
12.03.10 10:31 am
As Director of Public Health, Dr Taylor has a special responsibility to maintain trust and integrity in relation to his functions, as laid down by the Public Health Act (1997). Democratic societies as well as commercial exchanges rest on a cultural infrastructure of trust and integrity that has been built up over the centuries. Dr Taylor’s recent statements in relation to the E.niten water crisis have undermined that culture of integrity and public trust in the Tasmanian public health system. He should now resign as the Tasmanian Director of Public Health.
Politics | Local | State | Forestry | Economy | Environment | HealthMandy, Launceston
12.03.10 10:27 am
So far at least 22 posters have been removed with such stealth that even those sites that would require a ladder and screw driver have disappeared. So far at least 22 posters have been neatly removed leaving wood & screws intact from high profile sites all over Launceston. Last night another 5 posters were removed and today reported missing.
Politics | StateBartlett’s `tiger economy’ hit by jobless figures
Matthew Denholm, The Australian
12.03.10 7:09 am
Tasmania, praised this week by Kevin Rudd for its so-called “tiger economy”, survived the global economic crisis relatively well. But as is often the case, it appears to be taking longer to recover, with key traditional industries - such as pulp and paper, forestry and vegetable processing - culling jobs.
Politics | StateTassie parliamentary system unworkable, even for a ministry of silly walks
Bruce Montgomery, first published on Crikey
12.03.10 6:39 am
The conclusion: a stalemate, unless the Greens are included in the gene pool of any Cabinet. If Labor and the Liberals want to get rid of the Greens, form government in their own right and have a healthy backbench, they are going to have to change the electoral system to single-member constituencies.
Politics | StateClimate Action. Environment Tasmania
12.03.10 4:07 am
Over 150 Tasmanians watched as Lisa Singh MP, Vanessa Goodwin MP, Cassy O’Connor MP and election candidate Melanie Barnes went head to head on their party’s climate change credentials in a bid to win the votes of Tasmanians concerned about climate change. Readmore, Comment HERE
Politics | State | Economy | Environment
