Forest violence: follow Queensland

Louise Matthiesson, Woolloongabba, Qld, The Age (letter),  24/2/2000

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The disgusting violence in the forests of East Gippsland is not just the act of ugly timber industry thugs; it is the product of repeated policy failures by successive Victorian governments, both Labor and Liberal.

Late last year the Queensland Government negotiated an agreement with timber companies, unions and environmentalists to secure 425,000 hectares of new national parks, plant thousands of hectares of plantations and create 450 new jobs.

The sound of peace in the forests makes a marked contrast to the screams and abuse recorded in East

Gippsland on Monday, and heard on radio around the country. How much more old-growth forest will be lost forever before the Bracks Government realises that with goodwill and determination a solution can be found to the seemingly endless battle between jobs and the environment?

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