186 JOBS, GREENS AND HYPOCRISY

John Poppins, The Age (letter) 22/4/99



Dr Robert Bain's letter accusing green groups of hypocrisy (2114) is a textbook example of hypocrisy. He represents the corporations that have consistently reduced employment in the forests, at the same time as they greatly increase the tonnage of trees felled in those forests.

We must support the unemployed -- but we must be clear as to the cause. Green groups and unemployed forestry workers have much in common as they search for sustainable value-added work in the regions where a little old-growth forest still remains.

There is much that can be done, to lift the potential for tourism, to improve catchments and public facilities, all of which will add more long-term value and employment than Dr Bain's mechanised clearfelling.