Chainsaws at dawn – Labor trashes its own good work

Election campaigning is over and logging native forests has commenced.

These two acts are most definitely related. The Labor government knows that its logging practices in southeast NSW are unpopular and therefore the vandalism side of State Forests’ operations was swept under the carpet for a few months.

But just a month after the state election, all that has changed. On April 23 State Forests sent a letter to people who live around Bodalla State Forest advising that logging operations in compartment 3046 near Gulaga Mountain would shortly commence.

That letter was the trigger for locals and activists to again join forces and kick off a series of protests to stop this destruction. Last night I joined the protest camp near the logging area. It was lovely catching up with old friends but all of us would have preferred it was under different circumstances.

Just before we turned in for the night a yellow-bellied glider screeched into the dark night. The loss of habitat is one of the many outrages of these logging operations. This glider species is listed as endangered under the NSW Threatened Species Act and Forests NSW and the NSW government are allowing more of their habitat to be destroyed.

We were up early for today’s protest action. As dawn broke our numbers swelled to about 80. For a while we occupied the road leading to the current logging operations and then a smaller group walked into where the destruction is occurring.

After a couple of hours the police arrived. They were in such excessive numbers that many of the officers had nothing to do and occupied themselves by playing football on the road - another example of the government wasting resources (although I think the police made a smart move getting some enjoyable exercise in the sun).

Seven people were arrested including a great grandmother Barbara Lynn and Sean Burke, chairperson of the Gulaga Protection Group. Sean told me the police ordered him to leave but he could not obey. Sean and many other locals have been fighting to protect Gulaga Mountain since the 1980s. Listening to chain saws rip into the forest and watching more than a dozen timber jinkers, the huge haulage trucks, take away the hundreds of logs is painful.

Standing on the picket line this morning I had the opportunity to hear many stories about logging in this area. A retired dairy farmer recalled the role of the former local member, Liberal MP Jack Beale, played in assisting Daishowa set a lucrative woodchipping business.

A number of the protesters were grandparents who told me how as children they had enjoyed these forests and believed future generations had that same right.

A major concern is the silting of the local waterways. So many locals voiced their anger with State Forests that constantly state that they can control soil erosion after logging but all the creeks and lakes around logged areas are polluting and clogged with sediment.

At one stage our discussions were interrupted by the squawking of glossy black cockatoos that flew overhead. This species is listed as vulnerable in NSW, under the Threatened Species Conservation Act. Many of the protesters who have worked on this campaign for years spoke of their frustration with the assessment process. The Environmental Impact Statements are seen as quite inadequate with the nighttime checks on species the butt of jokes.

Members of the Bermagui Labor Party were also at the protest and asked me to tell Premier Morris Iemma that they are “absolutely appalled” and that they believed that there was an in-principle agreement with the previous premier, Bob Carr, that this logging would not happen.

Another local summed up what we were witnessing with the succinct observation that “the government is using public resources, the police, to support a private company destroying a pubic asset.

This logging must stop.

There are many tragedies unfolding as the giant gum trees crash to the forest floor and the damage is not just to the environment. A successful Aboriginal tourism operation, the Umbarra Cultural Centre, will clearly be impacted if this destruction continues.

This centre managed by the Yuin people runs guided tours to local sacred sites at Gulaga. A few years ago with some of my parliamentary colleagues I visited the centre and with a number of the traditional owners we walked to the top of Gulaga. It was a memorable day at a special place and as I stood with the protesters this morning I remembered my experiences at Gulaga. I kept on thinking of how often this Labor government ruins its own good work.

It is exactly one year ago that the Gulaga National Park was handed back to the Aboriginal custodians. This is only the second time in NSW that a national park has been returned to indigenous control. Clearly this was momentous occasion and the government has followed through by supporting the Umbarra Centre.

Now all this good work is being undermined by a logging operation. This government has to get its priorities right and recognise that there can be no compromise here between logging and protection of this unique area.

And the so-called loss of jobs argument does not work. There will be many more jobs on the south coast if we protect the natural environment rather than trash it.