The UTG Journal Issue No. 2 about the GST distribution (via Grants Commission) to Tasmania.2 With the forthcoming state elections another comment that Dick made, which is just as relevant today, Don’t be disturbed by silly arguments that the Editorial: Dick Jones U.T.G. kept so and so out of Parliament and aren’t we ashamed! (tut!) - The same Dr. Richard (Dick) Jones gave some very misleading argument is being used today; thought-provoking election speeches. For in fact, we have been lobbied by example, following his 1975 Senate Tasmanian Green supporters not to Election speech in an Editorial The reform as a political party. Examiner 1 commented that UTG had produced more ideas relevant to UTG has changed since the 1977 UTG Tasmania than have all the other parties State Conference, following 10 election combined. campaigns over 5 years (1972-77), Dick declared at this conference that: Our In this speech Dick pointed out that: business is to fight elections. Tasmania’s own party represents no sectional interests; (and) unlike some The fact that the newly re-formed UTG independents, we wear no disguises. has not formally re-registered as a political party does not mean we are not The United Tasmania Group became a political - we are even more so than political party because the two major before and, depending on the outcome of parties were putting aside democratic the next State election, we may register principles, in Tasmania. again, particularly as we now have The United Tasmania Group works financial backing. and breathes by a New Ethic, which The United Tasmania Group is Tasmania’s binds our members to work together (only) own party. We have produced more without fear or favour for the benefit ideas relevant to Tasmania than have all of all citizens… Our Ethic condemns the other parties combined – and it is the misuse of power. No other toward that end that UTG will continue to political party gives you this maintain the best evidence-based social, guarantee of ethical behaviour from environmental and economic policies for your representatives. (A revised, Tasmania. In this issue of the journal two redesigned A New Ethic will be such policies are presented: Preventing available soon). child abuse and neglect, and Youth Justice Also, there are extensive arguments in Reinvestment. The Editorial Committee this speech that present politicians could for this issue of the journal has been use to defend Tasmania in the debate expanded to accommodate these policies. 1 The Examiner, Launceston, Editorial, 26 August 2 Full transcript of this 14-page speech will be 1976 published as an article on our main facebook site. 1 Also, as should be clear from the content The environment affects us all, and the of The UTG Journal, we will continue to responsibility to protect it rests with all, present historical accounts of the original not just with those politicians who might development of Green politics and the wear it on their sleeve. It is past time that conservation movement in Tasmania – the major parties acknowledged this something that has been sadly lacking to reality, ceased using it as a weapon date. against political opponents, and started honouring all those among their own Correction to photo caption on page 8 of The UTG supporters who consider conservation to Journal #1: Caption should read: 'Early photo of some UTG be just as important as do members of the activists taking a campaign break (there were 10 Greens. election campaigns over a period of 5 years)' - NOT 6 years, in fact it was almost exactly 5 years, March To occasionally mouth platitudes about 1972 – April 1977. climate change is not enough. Climate change is obviously a big and over-arching concern that demands urgent attention, All parties are responsible for our but it does not negate all the other protected areas environmental issues that confront us. Increasingly, the burden of that global Kevin Kiernan task is casting a shadow that is obscuring all the other challenges right here on our To those generations who have not had to doorstep, and blinding us to the old adage fight to create our national parks and about the need to think globally but to act reserves they perhaps seem as if locally, the only place where we really can. something that has always been there, much like a mountain or a river. But these How long will it be before vested interests places were hard won, and at great start trying to bluff us that we have a personal cost to many people. global responsibility to flood the Franklin River after all, arguing that it is preferable Increasingly we see the consequences of to burning coal for power, as if coal was successive generations having assumed the only alternative energy source, and that the degraded environmental drowning yet more of the Earth’s green inheritance left to them is the norm, and, lungs as if they need not be factored into having been successfully convinced that it the equation? I bet that will happen far would be unreasonable not to let just a sooner than our political leaders will little more of all they have ever known slip acknowledge, the impact upon the global away, hand on that inheritance just a little environment of the billions of tonnes of further depleted. Only one outcome is carbon released into the atmosphere in possible when successive generations order to transport to this island ever- behave in this way. No candidate or party increasing multitudes of tourists with that aspires to political leadership should money in their pockets. want to be part of this insidious process, and nor should they be permitted to be As prices rise to match what tourists will part of it. pay rather than what the goods are really worth, our kids’ hopes that they might ever afford a house of their own grow 2 dimmer. Meanwhile a relative few taken for granted, just because it is in our benefit financially from the consumption own backyard rather than in some of our communal natural inheritance and seemingly exotic and romanticised place effective free use of the infrastructure for beyond the horizon. which we fool taxpayers must alone foot the bill. Those who prosper dangle the Moreover, we live on an island, and in a carrot of public support and campaign country, that is by no means so funds for aspirants to new or continuing impoverished as to be unable to properly political office, provided only that they tend this Eden with which we have been allow the doors of our national parks and gifted. Look beyond if you think other protected areas to be battered otherwise. Much of what you will see will down in order to permit their ransacking be a wounded, beleaguered and shell- through conversion into industrial scenery shocked world where poverty and real mines. human needs make all but impossible protection of such green lungs as cloak Of the more than 1,000 areas around the our hillsides. Yet we lay waste to those globe that have now been formally lungs to manufacture paper litter then pay recognised as World Heritage Areas, most rates and taxes to have it picked up, and have achieved that designation on the convert our national parks into scenery basis of meeting just one of the ten mines for the benefit of tourism possible criteria under which designation entrepreneurs, more out of sectional as a World Heritage Area can be assigned. avarice amid generalised disinterest than The Tasmanian Wilderness World for any real need. Heritage area (TWWHA) is one of only 29 sites worldwide that have qualified under Some seek to excuse our profligacy by both natural heritage and cultural arguing that we are already leaders in heritage criteria. It qualifies under an conservation, because we have a larger incredible seven of the ten possible area of intact Nature in protected areas formal criteria. Only one other site on than do those places where any hope of Earth meets this many criteria, and none doing likewise has long ago already been exceeds this number. eaten, over-populated, bombed or napalmed out of existence. But we have a This status is the considered opinion of a responsibly to safeguard our protected representative body of assessors who are areas, and we can afford to live up to that able to draw upon a worldwide network responsibility. of specialist advisors, and who do so as a matter of course before arriving at any Those who aspire to political office share decision. that responsibility. And as the forthcoming state election approaches, Hence, the TWWHA is not some trivial the electorate has a responsibility to hold confection by conservationists dreamed them to it. up in a bid to frustrate developers, or some plaything conjured up by one side or other of politics in order to chase votes. In living in Tasmania, we enjoy an ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ extraordinary privilege that ought not be 3 Preventing child abuse and neglect Jump forward eight years, working in child protection in the Tasmanian bureaucracy Geoff Holloway compiling figures on child abuse. My manager refused to accept that the Twenty-three years ago I had a stand-up number of unallocated cases i of child verbal fight with the Minister for the abuse had reached 800. I was told to Family and Children’s Services in Western change the figures. I was bullied, and Australia, Mr Roger Nicholls, 1995. What eventually had no choice but to resign. the fight was about was his refusal to After my resignation the number of accept the figures I had collated on the unallocated cases continued to rise and incidence of child abuse in Western reached about 1,600.