With forestry, Tasmania-style, considered sustainable, you have an immediate problem. There needs to be a clear deffinition of what is sustainable and what isn’t. Trading off your waste emissions against your product is not sustainable, as the emissions will still be produced.

Does anyone know another planet, where there is the basic infrastructure of a natural gas network installed but the users cannot get connected even though they are screaming year after year to get the half way clean fuel into their households? Should we go out there and do a bit of self-help, dear Minister? Seriously, just how far can mismanagement go? The gas, the fiber optic cable! And how come these sorts of projects don’t get up when it comes to infrastructure planning. So, let’s develop this inspiring list a bit further and then march to the chambers of power demanding that a bit of normal management be applied to this basket case State of Tasmania. Might just turn it around.

The natural gas pipeline comes ashore at George Town yet the Council did nothing to ensure that George Town residents would get access to it.  Some years later, because a development at York Cove wanted natural gas, the Council contributed $20,000 of the ratepayer’s money to get the main pipe into the town and gas pipes laid through a couple of streets to York Cove; the major/hotel motel in George Town said they’d like it, and a few businesses in the main street hopped on board, so the pipe was laid through the main street.  For the rest of the town - zilch! No survey has been undertaken, by the Council to see whether anybody else would like it, despite the rising costs of electricity for heating, etc.

It’s a disgrace that the Council contributed anything to get the gas for a couple of ‘identities’ when the rest of us get no consideration at all - it was OUR $20,000 that was used.  I bet if I had asked for it to be connected to my house the Council wouldn’t have coughed up anything, nor would they have assisted me in any way.  In other States natural gas is available in rural areas - not in good ol’ backward, stuck in the woodheater mentality of 19th century Tasmania.  I despair.

The retraining of worthless opposition to benefit the state.

Tasmania had more infrastructure 60 years ago ... trains and trams! Public transport is woeful. I agree with most of what you have written.

If folk are serious about reducing the amount of cars into cities, there needs to be a viable alternative.
Personally, I park my car about 2.5km out of the city and walk or ride my pushbike the remainder of the way, as it is not only cheaper, but faster and more convenient for me to get to work this way, as well as good excercise.
Unfortunately my efforts are being discouraged by the Hobart City Council, who keep extending the range of limited parking signs, pushing me and a growing group of like minded citizens further away. At Christmas “park and ride” from the Domain area is provided. Howabout some FREE parking areas on the outskirts of Hobart ... domain and bottom of Southern Outlet, for example?

Great ideas here.

How about

Plant nut and fruit trees and bushes that produce edibles in public spaces.

Allow public footpaths along fencelines

Eliminate payroll tax

Create local supply/distribution systems for foodstuffs

Change planning laws to encourage home grown food - chickens, rabbits etc

Nice list, I love the one about developing world standard timetabling for pubic transport. With fools like Redline running almost a monopoly on what passes for public transport in this state, I don’t think we’ll be seeing anything like ‘world standard’ here. If I was throwing Federal Infrastructure Money around I’d make sure a huge slab was spent on restoring passenger rail services to rural Tasmania. Imagine the tourist influx if you had a twice weekly passenger steam train running from Devonport to Hobart with additional car carrying services to meet the Spirit of Tasmania. Sadly the ideological insanity the infects both Liberal and Labor parties here will prevent anything like that happening.

The natural gas pipeline passes my house within stone throwing distance as does the fibre optic broadband cable. Do you think we can pursued anyone to connect us? No, The absurdity is that, given the $3000 per installation subsidy for satellite so called broadband, our village has, on last count, soaked up something like $105,000 in Federal subsidies for a vastly inferior service.
Go figure.

What about bikeways?

How about a decent cycleway network? In Perth (WA) they built them as unemployment relief projects. Good solid basic work, laying concrete paths and what a great thing when you can ride for miles without arguing with cars.

I could make a pretty shrewd guess that if a pipeline from Lake Trevallyn to Bell Bay becomes a national priority, it will be up and running in quick shakes. The expertise will suddenly materialise and the obstacles in its way will disappear like magic. I don’t think Gunns has factored in a three year wait from approval to actuality in any of its predictions and certainly not in any advertising to its potential ‘partners’. ‘We can build the mill now, but you’ll have to wait three or more years before they can connect the water.’

Can anybody hazard a guess as to what makes the difference?

#11 “Can anybody hazard a guess as to what makes the difference?“Not much difference -As long as the Meander Valley Council remains in Gunn’s back pocket they’ll get all the water they need for the pulp mill. That’s why the Meander Valley dam was built. This lot makes Jo Bjelke Petterson look like a saint!

A few more items to add to the list.

Electrification of the main rail line between Hobart and Burnie (coupled with rebuilding the line for higher speed).

Strategic introduction of light rail to Hobart, Launceston and Devonport-Burnie.

A freight link from Devonport direct to the Spirit of Tasmania side of the Mersey river.

An increased emphasis on bike paths and bus lanes when resealing roads.

A lot of this could be easily paid for with the $200 odd million per year that is paid out in forestry industry subsidies (which would be phased out over 10 years).