The Age (letter) 11/6
Just as holding up a Bible to the devil has never stopped atrocities, neither does the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) process halt forest destruction in East Gippsland.
Government foresters and the logging industry continue to hold up the discredited East Gippsland RFA to justify continuing and unlimited clearfelling and woodchipping in the region (10/6).
From the very start, the RFA was tailored to ensure the survival of the woodchipping and logging industry - not the survival of our forests or endangered species which rely on them. The "umpire", as the RFA is dubbed by those who it preferenced, is clearly a stooge for large corporate exploiters, with the only "agreement" being between the industry and government.
Those who own these forests have never agreed to public forests being
destroyed by private companies for private profit. The fact that we, the
public, may receive as little as 20 cents a tome in royalties for trees]
that Private companies shred and sell as woodchips for up to $70 a tonne
is one more example of how this Government writes the rules to favour corporate
profit above all else.