It's not a God-given right to do what you wantBy Dagmar Nordberg in The Sunday Tasmanian
Logging plans hurt image TASMANIA faces international criticism for logging Recherche Bay historic site, says a leading Swedish architect. Dagmar Nordberg says she is embarrassed by the Tasmanian Government's decision to allow logging where a French expedition landed more than 200 years ago. "It's embarrassing, I can't comprehend it," Ms Nordberg said. "This exposes Tasmania to international criticism."
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Other excerpts: "It's not often we have discoveries of this calibre today, where we can go back to the place and see it with much the same eyes as the explorers did," Ms Nordberg said. "If you go to Botany Bay and places like that what we see is a destroyed landscape, industrial development has taken over and practically nothing is left of what was there, it's a lost chance very much regretted in New South Wales."
and "It's symbolic," Ms Nordberg said. "That's why the decision to let logging go ahead happened so soon after the [federal] election. "It shows the old mindset will continue, change will not happen." Ms Nordberg said the argument about landowners' rights was primitive. "We have come further along the road, it's not a God-given right to do what you want," she said. "Just like it's not a God-given right to beat up your children." Recherche Bay's cultural heritage was invaluable -- a chance to develop a future with a new vision. Stakeholders, including owners, state government, residents and Aborigines should join in a round table discussion. "We need to put the bigger picture, if we have a divisive approach we won't get anywhere," she said. "When I speak to people about Recherche Bay I'm moved by the enthusiasm to do something different but then I am confronted by a government so restrained by powerful economic players who are holding a grip around any kind of change, preventing any kind of change."
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