I WOULD like to express my disappointment at the tone of letters printed in this column by members of the Country Alliance. Petty name calling like “the only true wilderness is between a greenies ears” serves only to reflect on the inability of the author to come up with a sound argument to support their case. The Country Alliance should play the ball and not the man.
Secondly, Melbourne Water’s own research shows that logging in water catchments reduces the quantity and quality of water production. It seems to me a bad idea then to be logging the catchment of our largest reservoir, the Thompson.
Logging in the Thompson catchment is short sighted and plain bad management no matter how you look at it, and I think the State Government is being hypocritical in supporting this logging and at the same time telling us all how we have to save water because of the drought.
Stewart Kerr
Badger Creek
THERE has been much to say about our bushland in letters over the past weeks. I don’t four wheel drive, mountain bike nor do I trail bike through our bushsland. I belong to no bushwalking club either: I love the bush, there is nothing better than to go for a walk to soak up all of the lovely air the forest makes for us to be rejuvenated for another day at work.
I love the bush so much my heart freezes to see the scars on the horizon as you drive into Healesville. I do not say ‘stop logging’, but I do say that if these present methods of clear felling continue to be used and the bush continually abused by all of the above users the bush as we see it will cease and many of the creatures that use it for habitat will cease to exist also.
We need the Peters, the Chelseas and the Sarahs who are willing to take a dedicated stand against the bulldozers of overseas paper manufacturers. The only thing that interests the woodchip industry is how much capital gain is to be had. Did you plant any trees for National Tree Day?
Have you contacted DSE to see if there are any meetings or workshops you could attend to counteract the damage done by four wheel drives and trail bikes? They are trying to pass new laws to control the large number of these users. We all need to tread lightly on our planet and look to the larger picture.
Janet Goodwin
Healesville
BOB Rich (Free Ride Over, 9 August) makes a lot of assumptions.
To begin with he assumes that people like me don’t run cattle and that I am a member of Country Alliance. He is wrong on both counts.
I am a mountain cattleman with grazing licences on The Bogong High Plains. Since when have I been able to run my cattle for months at a time at taxpayers expense?
My activities cost the taxpayer nothing. It is the inefficiency of Parks Victoria that costs the money approximately $200,000 a year to administer 65 alpine grazing licences.
Of course, that $200,000 includes the wages and conditions of the person employed to do the management including a vehicle and allowances. So, most of the administration cost is not even directly related to cattle.
Having said that, it costs a lot to administer drivers’ licences, so perhaps we shouldn’t be allowed to drive. It probably costs a lot to administer permits for grandparents to have their children visit their farm for the weekend, so perhaps we should outlaw such visits.
If life could ever be said to have been sublime, in this state it’s now ridiculous.
But apart from the cost to the taxpayer of administering alpine grazing licences, it costs substantially more to subsidise green groups by way of government grants.
Mr Rich asks how I know that the green movement is not interested in democracy. The answer is obvious and one example will suffice. Ninety per cent of Victorians consistently support the continuation of alpine grazing but the Greens still wanted us out and worked to achieve their goal. That they haven’t achieved it yet is good news for the majority.
Thanks to Federal Government intervention cattle will be back on the high plains this year.
As a Mountain Cattleman, based on The Bogongs, and as a horse tour operator, based at Narbethong, I spend most of my time in the bush, a lot of it interpreting the environment for visitors and allowing them to experience a rich Australian cultural heritage.
I can say without fear of contradiction that my love and knowledge of the bushland in which I live and work encompasses a world of experience that Mr Rich would not comprehend. I have been been burned out by bushfires and received not a cent in compensation, I have had a horse killed under me by swarming European wasps, I have lost cattle in shocking blizzard conditions and faced a whole series of serious setbacks that should have finished me off well and truly.
That I and my family have triumphed over adversity is due to our unending love for the bush. My wife has worked up to seven nights a week (she is a nurse) for years to keep us going. So if Mr Rich wants to talk about free rides and subsidies he ought to gain a bit of knowledge first.
Philip Maguire
Narbethong
I FEEL compelled to write in response to Bob Rich’s letter (9805). Bob, I am a member of Country Alliance and I do farm cattle. some on family land and some on leased land.
The terms of any lease is the business of the two parties involved. There are no hard and fast rules for leasing land or agisting cattle anywhere throughout the state.
If you or someone else can get a better deal than me, then good luck to you.
The thing to be aware of Bob is that there are thousands of lease agreements between the state government, its authorised bodies and private enterprise including individuals, community groups, farmers and small businesses.
I think we have all heard of or had some experience of 99year leases of unused road reserve, surplus railway land and crown land.
There are many and varied leases throughout the state that would probably get up your nose also, but that’s just business. Let’s be honest, the state government (no matter which party is in power) is not noted for making astute business decisions.
The Mountain Cattlemen may have been getting a good deal with their lease, but rest assured there are a lot of other businesses and people also getting good deals.
It is important to remember Bob that the government and its socalled experts did not throw the Mountain Cattlemen out because they didn’t pay enough.
I ask you this Bob, when you were farming, did you ever pay anyone more than what they billed you for?
I didn’t think so Bob.
Chris Peak
Member of Country Alliance
Healesville
