Ricky Muir
The words “native timber industry” should not be words frowned upon, yet with relentless misinformation campaigns, outright lies and targeting of voters in the inner city, it seems they are according to Ricky Muir. Source: The Weekly Times
Writing for The Weekly Times Mr Muir said:
The irony is that if we were to stop all native timber harvesting in Australia today, harvesting which is done at world’s best practice standards, we would simply pass on native timber harvesting to other countries and end up buying products harvested under less-restricted guidelines.
The real words that are a threat to our forests, wildlife, rural and regional communities, industries and hobbies supported by our vast state forests, are “Green ideology”.
The State Government’s Great Forest National Park proposal is more than just a threat to Victoria’s well regulated, sustainable timber industry. It is a threat to regional communities and outdoors recreation.
You don’t need to understand or even support the timber industry to be affected by such a plan. If you are a camper, four-wheel driver, dirt bike rider, hunter, prospector, live in a community where specialist forestry equipment is used to fight bushfires or are supported by tourism in the above mentioned activities, you are being targeted by fierce activism that plans to lock up 355,000ha of land from Eildon to Warragul and from Aberfeldy to Kinglake into a national park.
Tens of thousands of Victorians and others from interstate regularly use the state forests within this area for recreation and generate millions of dollars in economic stimulus.
Have you ever tried to walk a dog, fly a drone, camp wherever you want, whenever you want, hunt, collect firewood, horse ride or explore the vast road networks and infrastructure generally part funded by our timber industry in a national park? Good luck.
Four-wheel drive tracks will be closed under such a plan. If you are an outdoors enthusiast you should start paying attention. We are within a few days of the Northcote by-election and the Greens candidate has made it an “us and them” issue in regard to rural and regional Victoria.
The Greens candidate said, “If we can already achieve some of these policies like a safe injecting rooms and a ban on plastic bags simply by threatening Labor in the inner city, imagine what we can actually achieve with another Greens member in the House.”
Inner-city Green ideology has no place in the bush and needs to be counteracted immediately.
The ALP needs to support blue-collar workers in regional Victoria and the suburbs, not only in their work but in recreational pursuits.
Likewise, with Victorian Liberal Party leader Matthew Guy admitting on the weekend that he supports the Great Forest National Park proposal, you can’t rely on the Coalition to be the sole defenders of regional Victoria to tackle the ideological national park proposal. This issue may be the one that draws me back into politics. Victoria deserves better.
