“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. “...
So it has been. So it must be with this generation, for the world has changed, and we must change with it.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our state is at war, against an entrenched network of ignorance. Our forest potential is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the state for a new age.
We understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Forestry Tasmania’s journey has been one of short-cuts or settling for less. They have undersold and trashed what was meant to be in their care on behalf of the public.
In future we will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise the quality of forest management.
We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the fire threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and trampling on the rights of the local innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.
To those leaders around the country who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the Greens - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history;
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true.
What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – the clearfelling and burning of our forests and in our water catchments has to stop.
Value adding has to begin with the source of our natural resources, forests and catchments need to be restored and enhanced.
We will identify the holistic values on this island, we will take note of the risks and treats. We will manage and market our forest products with respect for our community for generations to come.
The exclusive long term deals between a few in executive suites, deals that excluded the local community and individual neighbors will have to end and yes, they will.
The GUNNS Pulpmill will not be build, as the planning process was corrupted by the determination and obsession between a few greedy gamblers. They have lost trust and collaboration with the people, they reached their fame, and they will be remembered for a dark era on this Island.
People united; imagine Tasmania as a place of excellence, restoring trust and inherited values in appreciation and respect of what was given to us by nature to be wisely used and cared for and build on from Generation to Generation.
Posted by Change Agent on 21/01/09 at 08:33 AM
Mr Bartlett said (Examiner online 21 01 2009)
“Significant gains have been made by the environment movement over the last 10 and 20 years in Tasmania – but the question does have to be asked of Mr McKim, when is enough?”
This begs the question, is the Premier kind, clever and connected enough?
For according to the United Nations:-
“The Green Economy Initiative - which will be spearheaded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), headquartered here, and is already being backed by governments …
The new multimillion dollar initiative – which is being already funded by the German and Norwegian Governments and the European Commission – arises out of a study commissioned by world leaders at the 2006 G8 summit into the economic value of ecosystems. It argues that the world is caught up in not one, but three interlinked crises, with the food and fuel crunches accompanying and intensifying the financial one.
Soaring prices of grain and oil, it stresses, have stemmed from outdated economic priorities that have concentrated on short term exploitation of the world’s resources, without considering how they can be used to sustain prosperity in the long term. Over the last quarter of a century, says UNEP, world growth has doubled, but 60 per cent of the natural resources that provide food, water, energy and clean air have been seriously degraded.
Achim Steiner, UNEP’s Executive Director, adds that new research shows that every year, for example the felling of forests deprives the world of over $2.5 trillion worth of such services in supplying water, generating rainfall, stopping soil erosion, cleaning the air and reducing global warming . By comparison, he points out, the global financial crisis is so far estimated to have cost the world the smaller one-off sum of $1.5 trillion.
“We are pushing, if not pushing past, the limits of what the planet can sustain,” he says. “If we go on as we are today’s crisis will seem mild indeed compared to the crises of tomorrow”.
Switching direction and concentrating on ‘green growth’, he says, will not only prevent such catastrophes, but rescue the world’s finances. “The new, green economy would provide a new engine of growth, putting the world on the road to prosperity again. This is about growing the world economy in a more intelligent, sustainable way.
“The 20th century economy, now in such crisis, was driven by financial capital. The 21st century one is going to have to be based on developing the world’s natural capital to provide the lasting jobs and wealth that are needed, particularly for the poorest people on the planet”
He says for example, that it makes more sense to invest in preserving forests, peatlands and soils, which naturally absorb carbon dioxide, than destroying them and then developing expensive technology to do the job.”
If Mr Bartlett truly believes that at this point in time, enough has been done to sustain the environment for future prosperity, then we are truly worried that the Premier not only does not have what it takes to lead Tasmania forward, but infact will continue leading us no where but down.
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