Fred Gale’s article, Tasmanian Forests Agreement: deeply flawed, worth backing, provides interesting insights into the views of one segment of the Tasmanian community that supports the Tasmanian Forest…
Whose opinion of this forest is most important? The Tasmanian Forests Agreement has decided.
Sarah Caulfield
On April 30 2013, Tasmania’s Parliament passed the Tasmanian Forests Agreement, with the aim of ending one of the world’s longest-running forestry conflicts.
The deal “locks up” a further half-million…
Giant eucalypts like this swamp gum (Eucalyptus regnans) tower over an understory of rainforest plants, and are dependent on fire for their survival.
Flickr/freelancing god
Forest activist Miranda Gibson’s 15-month stay up a giant eucalypt has been interrupted by bushfire. Meanwhile Tasmania’s forestry peace deal, now being considered in the state’s upper house, has drawn…
The Cataract Gorge in Launceston, Tasmania, once home to the Tasmanian Torrent Midge.
Flickr/Simon Lieschke
Torrent midges, as their name suggests, make their homes in the fastest-flowing parts of rivers and streams. Their larvae have evolved remarkable and unique adaptations, including suckers on their underside…
Its not just the forests that make the Tarkine distinctive – it is habitat for 117 threatened species of flora and fauna.
Jennifer Evans
Tasmania’s Tarkine is now instantly recognisable, evoking ancient forests and environmental controversy. It hasn’t always been so, however, with research and celebration building over the past 40 years…
Jeff Kennett has long been an advocate of joining Tasmania and Victoria.
AAP/Joe Castro
Is Tasmania at a tipping point? Over the next two weeks The Conversation, in conjunction with Griffith REVIEW and the University of Tasmania, is publishing a series of provocations. Our authors ask where…
Tasmanians are pretty happy with their lot in life: isn’t that worth more than growth for growth’s sake?
Georgie Sharp
Is Tasmania at a tipping point? Over the next two weeks The Conversation, in conjunction with Griffith REVIEW and the University of Tasmania, is publishing a series of provocations. Our authors ask where…
Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings has proposed a framework for ‘voluntary assisted dying’ with Tasmanian Greens Leader Nick McKim.
AAP/Alan Porritt
By Ben White, Queensland University of Technology and Lindy Willmott, Queensland University of Technology
Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings and Leader of the Tasmanian Greens Nick McKim have released a discussion paper that outlines and seeks comment on a proposed framework for “voluntary assisted dying”. The…
If Tasmania is broken, maybe it’s because Tasmanians have no reason to fix it.
Gary Sauer-Thompson
Is Tasmania at a tipping point? Over the next two weeks The Conversation, in conjunction with Griffith REVIEW and the University of Tasmania, is publishing a series of provocations. Our authors ask where…
Tasmanians have yet to engage fully with the unspeakable in their history.
Nina Matthews Photography
Is Tasmania at a tipping point? Over the next two weeks The Conversation, in conjunction with Griffith REVIEW and the University of Tasmania, is publishing a series of provocations. Our authors ask where…
Industrialisation is an outdated approach to Tasmania’s problems – we need to look elsewhere.
jayegirl99/flickr
Is Tasmania at a tipping point? While it is known to many of us through seductive tourism brochures showcasing the state’s pristine wilderness, gourmet magazine articles celebrating its burgeoning food…
Tasmania’s consciousness is littered with dark incidents, and it’s not getting better. How can we shine a light?
Hani Amir
Is Tasmania at a tipping point? While it is known to many of us through seductive tourism brochures showcasing the state’s pristine wilderness, gourmet magazine articles celebrating its burgeoning food…
There has been an outcry in Tasmania against legal restrictions on fuel reduction.
AAP Image/Twitter Botonaine
As the fires that started in Tasmania in early January continue to burn, a rising flow of letters to the editor, radio raves and internet utterances are questioning whether the state and local governments…
Road traffic is a threat to Tasmania’s few health devils – increased truck traffic in the Tarkine won’t help.
Rhys Allen
Just a week before Christmas, Environment Minister Tony Burke approved Shree Minerals’ mine near Temma in the Tarkine region of north-west Tasmania. Perhaps he hoped the announcement would get lost in…
The town of Dunalley in south-eastern Tasmania was ravaged by bushfires.
AAP
Once again, bushfires are laying waste to Australian homes and communities, this time in Tasmania, with reports of 65 or more properties destroyed in Dunalley alone. Fire emergency services in other states…
The rush to rebuild is understandable, but our attitude to bushfires will bring us more trouble in the long run.
AAP Image/Rob Blakers
It’s just a week into the new year and here in Tasmania we are already licking our wounds after disastrous fires in the state’s south. Mainlanders are facing similar events as extreme weather conditions…
Research is clear on the value of the Tarkine’s rainforest, but does it matter to human society?
Rob Blakers
In Australia, we ride on the open cut mine’s back.
In the island state of Tasmania, there is a medium size-class open cut mine (928 hectares) with 210 hectares of settling ponds, from which iron nodules…
Sure, the Tasmanian Forests Agreement isn’t perfect, but do you have a more sustainable way to stop the forest wars?
Matthew Newton/AAP
The signatories to the Tasmanian Forests Agreement (TFA) have spent more than two years trying to square the circle of forest conflict in Tasmania. The deal they brokered deserves prima facie respect…
The Tasmanian forestry deal was about finding a balance between business and conservation.
lizardstomp/flickr
Last week, after nearly two years of negotiations, loggers and environmentalists shook hands on a Tasmanian forestry peace deal. The deal represents a landmark in more than 30 years of animosity between…
Recent arguments suggesting the size of the political debate around the Tasmanian forestry industry is disproportionate to its economic importance is misleading.
AAP
The Australia Institute (TAI) has recently used Census data to claim that the Tasmanian forest industry employs only 975 workers.
Based on this, they argued that the size of the political debate about…
The banks have pulled the plug on loss-making company Gunns after it announced a $904 million loss.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
Forestry company Gunns has been entered into voluntary administration after posting a $904 million loss today.
Tough economic conditions, including a high Australian dollar and falling woodchip prices…
It’s not time to break out the confetti yet; Tasmania faces legal hurdles before it can allow same-sex marriage.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Does the Tasmanian Parliament have the power to pass a law permitting same-sex marriage? The short answer is yes. But the more difficult question is whether that law will be effective or whether it will…
Negotiations are easier if activists are left out, but the results won’t last.
Rainforest Action Network
The Tasmanian forests agreement is hanging by a thread.
Political parties have reverted to their old adversarial ways, people who should be getting a say have been excluded from the process, and the large…
Landscape is the star in The Hunter, but science plays a respectable supporting role.
Matthew Nettheim
All over the planet, a new wave of exploration and exploitation is taking place. Bioprospectors are searching for new and useful biological samples and compounds from previously unstudied animals and plants…
In the game of economic and environmental chess, Gunns’s position is looking precarious.
ChessAmmo.com
In chess, the endgame takes place when only a handful of pieces are left on the board. In close games, the players must select the best move available to avoid being checkmated.
Gunns – Tasmania’s “forest…
Climate models allow us to look at the planet’s future climate.
Truthout.org
We know the climate is changing because that’s what climate models tell us. But what exactly is a climate model, and are they cutting-edge science or modelling madness?
What is a climate model?
Climate…
