For years, Tasmania has been bedevilled by greenist, tree-huggers. At present they enjoy more political power in that state than previously. Industrial plant is being shut down. But not to worry. Tourism is what will save the day. Clean, green tourism. Sound familiar. Sure does.
In an op-ed piece in the Sydney Morning Herald, Gerard Henderson argues that there is a strong streak of elitism at work here. Elite, monied Greens telling everyone else how to live their lives and conduct their affairs. That too sounds very familiar.
Greens are draining the nation's grassroots
Gerard Henderson
July 19, 2011 - 6:57AM
The American journalist Lincoln Steffens once naively said of the Soviet Union in the time of Lenin and Stalin: "I have seen the future and it works." After a few days in Tasmania, I have seen the future and it doesn't work.
In Canberra, Julia Gillard reached a formal agreement with the Greens after the 2010 election. In Hobart, Labor and the Greens govern in coalition. The newly appointed Premier, Lara Giddings, is doing her best in a difficult political and economic climate. However, the Greens - led by former advertising operative Nick McKim - are a disincentive to interstate and overseas investment.
Since Federation, the strength of the Tasmanian economy has turned on forestry, mining and tourism. The Greens threaten forestry and their desire to lock up even more of the state in national parks is likely to harm future mineral exploration. This leaves tourism along with, of course, subsidies provided by the federal government.
In 2010, the timber company Gunns Limited changed its management following pressure from environmentalists to alter its ways. The new managing director, Greg L'Estrange, announced that the company would cease native forestry and only log plantation timber. Gunns hopes to establish a pulp mill at Bell Bay on the Tamar River based on plantation logging. This, too, is opposed by the Greens and environmentalists.
Last week, L'Estrange said that Gunns has decided to sell the Triabunna pulp mill, on Tasmania's east coast, to two millionaires who hail from outside the state - namely, Jan Cameron, who made her fortune after establishing the Kathmandu clothing chain, and Graeme Wood, the founder of travel business Wotif.com. Cameron is semi-retired and lives in Tasmania. Wood donated $1.6 million to the Greens before the 2010 federal election - a deal which the Greens Senate leader, Bob Brown, says he negotiated personally.
The intentions of Cameron and Wood are pretty obvious. They plan to close the Triabunna pulp mill in about three years. This was made clear when it was announced that the long-time green activist Alec Marr would become general manager of the mill. The new owners have indicated that they will establish an eco-tourist venture in Triabunna sometime in the future.
The purchase of the Triabunna pulp mill underlines the developing divide in society. It is essentially between wealthy or well-off people with solid educational qualifications and secure incomes, and less well-off, less well-educated people whose incomes are insecure or relatively low. The former tend to reside in the inner suburbs of the major capital cities, the latter in the outer suburbs and regional centres.
In a sympathetic profile of Cameron published in The Australian last August, journalist Matthew Denholm wrote that the "Kathmandu retail chain founder has no taste for jets, yachts or private villas in Tuscany". Maybe not. But, on Friday, Cameron was interviewed by the ABC's 7.30 program at Hobart Airport before jetting out of Tasmania for an overseas holiday. Asked about the impact of the Triabunna purchase for the locals who have relied upon the mill for decades, Cameron responded: "All I can say is it's a very difficult period for them and we will be looking for some solutions along the way." Queried as to whether she would miss the debate about the decision, Cameron responded that she would be "quite happy to be on the other side of the world".
Well, yes. Logging operator Michael Woods had a different story. He told The Mercury newspaper that the previous uncertainty about the future of the Triabunna mill had forced him to sack his sons. Woods declared his hatred of Gunns for having sold out its loyal employees and contractors. He added that he was seeking psychological help as his small business collapses around him due to the successful tactics of green activists.
The Triabunna debate is but a microcosm of the wider argument about environment policies. The likes of Woods know that the saving of a native tree in Hobart may lead to the destruction of more native trees elsewhere in countries which do not take as much care of the environment as Australia. In other words, the green agenda is about politics rather than the global environment.
Giddings, on behalf of Labor, wants a viable pulp mill in Triabunna. McKim, on behalf of the Greens, wants the mill to close in favour of a tourist playground. In view of such a conflict within the Tasmanian government, why would any company risk investment in the state? Meanwhile Tasmanians and others who struggle to get by are becoming irritated by well-heeled environmentalists telling them how they should live their lives. This is an increasingly common phenomenon throughout the country.
Last month on ABC Radio 702, for example, millionaires Geoffrey Cousins and Dick Smith agreed with one another about the importance of a carbon tax. Cousins supported Smith's confident declaration that once the carbon tax is "communicated properly" then "most Australians will support it". The empirical evidence suggests otherwise.
Already there are signs of a political change under way. In the last week, John Howard, Michael Kroger and Liberal MP Kevin Andrews have said that the Coalition should preference Labor ahead of the Greens in the seat of Melbourne, currently held for the Greens by Adam Bandt. Labor MP Michael Danby has proposed placing the Greens at the bottom of his how-to-vote card in neighbouring Melbourne Ports. These comments coincide with the release this week of Andrew McIntyre's edited collection The Greens (Connor Court), which subjects Brown's party to a rigorous critique.
Much of the Greens' success, so far, has depended on the preferences it receives from the Coalition and Labor alike. It seems that both the major parties are looking at the contemporary reality of politics and realising it doesn't work.
Gerard Henderson is executive director of The Sydney Institute.
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