Thread: Greenies.........

I was told loggers actively attack greenies and beat the crap out of them


...no, i don't believe it either

Like most things you need balance. At one end of the pendulum you have the don't cut trees down anymore mindset and at the other end you have the clear felling mindset. Fortunately most of the greenies and logging contractors are settling in the middle and agree that we need sustainable forests. The few radicals left act like politicians and try to discredit each other so that their stance is justified. There has always and will likely always be a conflict between production and conservation. What better way is there to regulate such an important resource? Sorry I sort of covered it but got a bit carried away there - better go sharpen the chainsaw.

Really Tasman ? So you will just take the word of a logging contracter (think 'vested interest') that his main opposition are 'bad' people. Just pause a second to think how many hundreds of people it takes to make a truckload of garbage and how likely it would be for forest activists to be felling and slabbing timber... about as likely as a moslem pork butcher. Lets face it Tasman you are the one who comes out looking green repeating that sort of B......t

seriph1

right now there is a court case in Melbourne on exactly this. It is the longest running illegal imprisonment and assault case in Australian history.

A group of greenies, forest savers, were allegedly imprisoned and assaulted for days in the Otways. It includes terrorising young women, running through the tents at night with chainsaws running flat out, awful stuff, things you would not imagine happen in Australia.

The other thing to note is that there has never, ever been a case of greenies damaging logging equipment, forest roads, etc. There have been numerous and frequent allegations of this, however the police have never prosecuted any greenie for this, and you will be aware that every year hundreds get arrested around Australia for peacefully protesting.

The police now have a policy of not believing this sort of allegation, they have cottoned onto the tactics used by the loggers and woodchippers.

As well in Victoria there are always allegations of trees being spiked, the last one was in East Gippsland, the spike was apparently over a meter in length and about 5 meters up a tree. Not the sort of thing that the average weedy greenie could achieve. The police in the end put it down to the loggers trying to get some bad publicity for the greenies.

As for the sabotage, every proven case of sabotage has been one group of loggers trying to reduce the competition. That sabotage is mainly carried out by loggers, not greenies.

Keep it nice

Yes the effort in the greens camp to promote peaceful protest are rather extreme. At the Franklin River blockade we were not allowed upriver until we had done our three days of NVA (non-violent action) training. And at the Mount Nardi blockade we scrupulously weeded out any nutty types who wanted to 'have a go at the loggers'. The best thing is that peaceful direct action works. There is nothing like looking into the eyes of a sweating cop who is twisting your arm and trying to get you out of a blockade and saying "we are doing this so that your kids will be able to visit this beautiful place in fifty years time..." Kind of develops a bit of respect.

I think I and the missus will watch Gandhi again this weekend

and no....I'm not kidding

- The point - Ben Kingsley's performance - the documentary on the DVD about how they made it - and the clips of the man himself

and totally OT: Once, when Gandhi visited England, a journalist met him at the boat and asked: "what do you think of western civilisation?" Gandhi replied "I think it's a very good idea."

Hi all.
Peace man.
I swing to the green side although I am as guilty as everyone on this board, (no pun intended), for useing timber.
I went to Tassie 2 weeks ago, and there were all these Hippies getting on the ship.
The first thing I thought of was that no one will take them seriously, because they all had Dredies, looked and smelled dirty.
If the Greenies are serious about getting there message across, they need to get rid of the dope smokeing dredie image, and get a load of people who actualy look decent.
Imagine the headline,

Group of clean shaven, well atired gentlemen protest at trees being destroyed.
Goverment takes action!!!!!

That would get 100% more attention than a group of dead .

Cheers, Al

no question about those bloody smelly activists! We are often our own worst enemies



for the record I recall Nicholas Dattner clearly stating that until chipboard and the indonesian furniture epidemic (his words), furniture makers have never been responsible for the l,oss of forests.

I have no idea whether this is true or not, but can say it is likely he did not say it without thought and research.


Cheers

Len.

I'd normally steer well clear of any thread to do greenies, but I have to say that I commend and respect your words about peaceful protests.

I won't say anymore than that to keep from entering the debate.


Ben.

Posting safely.

The greenies are having an effect and regardless of their looks and dress their meesage is getting through. They are extremely well organised and have representatives where it counts. The Regional Forest Agreement is in the main a result of their persistance and this is now impacting in all states. I think that most of us see value in preserving what little Native Forest is left for future timber supplies, seed harvesting, water catchment, biodiversity and carbon issues. My opinion is that all timber should be harvested from sustainable plantations but that is easy for me to say as my hardwood roof has already been harvested and probably from Native Forests.
I mentioned earlier about balance and we need the extremes to find the workable middle ground. I am pleased that there is so much passion about this subject because it does mean that we value our forests and the products it produces. It is not that long ago that some viewed it as a big heap of firewood.

It is a pity about the hippy image thing, just remember that these poor naive bastards are trusting the rest of us to respect them for their courage and selfless commitment and respect also their right to follow fashions that express their youth... Pity most of us can't do that.

When, in another life, I worked for the NT Department of Mines monitoring the environmental performance of the uranium mines in Kakadu, my experience of the greenies was that they never missed an opportunity to engage in dishonest scare-mongering. It seemed that they felt that the end justified the means. I don't know if the greenies in Tasmania have the same attitude, but it would not surprise me.

That said, I abhor the thought of old-growth forests being clear-felled for woodchips. However, I suspect that the greenies are exaggerating the seriousness of the problem in Tasmania, just as they did with the environmental effects of mining in Kakadu.

Rocker

Having stood on the other side of the lines at some of these 'peaceful protests' I laugh at the use of the word peaceful. I don't think being spat on or having water bombs full of urine thown at you is even remotely peaceful. I respect those who are willing to put their hand up for a cause they believe in but have nothing but disrespect for those willing to use tactics such as those mentioned using a cause as their excuse.

At the September 11 protests, protesters underwent training courses on how to break police lines while they talked in the media about how they would be peacefully protesting and not being the aggressors at all. Then they show footage of police leaning over the fences swinging batons at the so called peaceful protesters who are allegedly doing nothing. What they didn't show was the Police Sergeant who had been pulled over the fence and was on the ground being kicked and beaten who finished up in hospital as a result of the 'peaceful protest'.

In logging areas of Gippsland they hammer large nails into the trunks of trees to be felled, endangering the lives of those operating the cutting equipment.

A colleague of mine was bitten on the arm while at one of these 'peaceful protests' by a dreddie wearing filthy greenie and had to go through months of worry waiting to find out if he'd contracted some nasty disease.

I'd love to see just one peaceful protest. It would be a nice change. I don't go to these things because I agree with the companies being protested against. I go because it's my job. Apparently that makes me want to be spat on and have p**s thrown at me.:mad:

Dan