The Tasmanian ALP government is facing another political crisis stemming from its pro-business politics. This time it is over the contract it signed with shipping operator Southern Shipping to provide a 50 kilometre ferry service between the Bass Strait islands and Bridport, on the Tasmanian mainland.
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On October 10, a hole was burnt in the doormat of Gunns Limited chairperson, John Gay. Some crude graffiti was also drawn on his fence.
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“Kevin Rudd, go back home, leave us black fellas alone!” 100 protesters yelled as the prime minister sped past in his luxury car on his way to a “community Cabinet meeting” at New Town High School on October 13.
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“The whole area is full of Aboriginal artefacts and the archaeologists' reports indicate that it is probably one of the most extensive, if not the most extensive find of Aboriginal heritage in the state”, Michael Mansell, legal director of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC), told ABC Hobart on September 16.
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The Camp Florentine forest blockade in southwest Tasmania, which has just passed its third winter, continues to protect ancient wet Eucalypt and rainforests. Since November 2006, the community group Still Wild Still Threatened has blockaded the area.
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In 2008, Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett promised voters the ALP state government would no longer guarantee financial support to forestry giant Gunns’ unpopular pulp mill proposal for the Tamar Valley, near Launceston.
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The Tasmanian Labour Party held its state conference in Hobart on July 26. It adopted a new policy in support of same-sex marriage after a close vote.
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The Tasmanian Liberal Party, now in opposition, is running with a new youth-bashing policy in the lead-up to the next state election. The election will take place early next year.
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On July 10, 100 people rallied for Aboriginal rights as part of National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) week.
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An emergency protest was held on June 29 in response to the military coup that ousted Honduras’ democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya the day before. The action targeted Labor MP Duncan Kerr’s office, and demanded the federal government condemn the coup.
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Tasmanian Greens leader Nick McKim introduced a private members bill on May 26. If passed, it will legalise euthanasia in the state.
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Despite widespread opposition, forest giant Gunns Ltd is still pressing ahead with its proposed pulp mill in the pristine Tamar Valley in northern Tasmania. But the campaign against it shows no signs of going away.