Tarkine

[photohiker]

The Tasmanian Government is promoting its anti-workplace protests laws as the toughest in Australia after an amended bill passed the Lower House.

It will mean people who protest at mining or forestry sites could face time in jail.

The bill was amended in the independent-dominated Upper House earlier this month, with mandatory fines and jail terms removed.

So now it seems you can protest and you _might_ go to jail.

[RichB]

The Tasmanian Govt are a useless bunch of lunatics and should be looked upon and treated as such...I think these numptys forget who pays their salaries..

[RichB]

They really expect the people to stand by and do nothing whilst they destroy Tasmania?....

[stepbystep]

I'm pleased to say powerful forces are mobilising behind closed doors with a multi-pronged approach to addressing long term benefits for the environment in The Tarkine. Unfortunately the scientific and economic work that needs to be done will take some time still, years. The outcome will be great for the environment, great for bushwalkers and deliver long and medium term sustainable employment in the region. The biggest concern is how much damage can the ideologues do in the meantime...and how many of us will they throw in jail

[RichB]

Well you would think these useless *&%$#! would need to build a couple more jails to prison all the people that love Tasmania and will stand up for it, but how many people will actually stand up for Tasmania..I wonder...Australians are a pretty compliant people, and that needs to end..

[photohiker]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-12/c ... ge/6089036

A four-wheel drive group in Tasmania is asking the public to report anyone blatantly defying a ban on using vehicles on sensitive tracks containing Aboriginal heritage.

Footage obtained by the ABC shows people driving six vehicles on tracks in the Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area south of Sandy Cape with number plates obscured by tape.

It's a bit of a problem reporting a vehicle with concealed number plates though...

[Nuts]

Tassie plates, the clubbies will know who they are or someone who does.

Well you would think these useless *&%$#! would need to build a couple more jails to prison all the people that love Tasmania and will stand up for it, but how many people will actually stand up for Tasmania..I wonder...Australians are a pretty compliant people, and that needs to end..

I don't see a lot of difference between ignoring laws of trespass or protection of property and ignoring laws attempting to limit access. An account should be called for in courts and cities, not some poor '*&%$#!' workplace.

[photohiker]

Clubbies? What, people who go to nightclubs? Strange setup you have down there in Tassie

[Nuts]

Screen Shot 2015-02-12 at 10.21.48 PM.png (257.92 KiB) Viewed 23419 times

[corvus]

Clubbies? What, people who go to nightclubs? Strange setup you have down there in Tassie

Do you intend to be insulting or are you just strange ? we Tassies know what adding( ies )to words mean ,those who frequent Clubs are Clubbers, ies being a past tense with your usage of the language ,just as we may call you a Southie or in a more adversarial style a Sandie or heaven forbid relating to Adelaide a Churchie ! yes so SA and past tense

[photohiker]

Clubbies? What, people who go to nightclubs? Strange setup you have down there in Tassie

Do you intent to be insulting or are you just strange ? we Tassies know what adding( ies )to words mean ,those who frequent Clubs are Clubbers, ies being a past tense with your usage of the language ,just as we may call you a Southie or in a more adversarial style a Sandie or heaven forbid relating to Adelaide a Churchie ! yes so SA and past tense

Bad day again, corvus?

I was asking a question. I have no idea what a 'clubbie' is. I think I made that rather clear. Did you notice the question mark before you decided to beat me up with your parochialism? You say Tassie people know what it is (I'm sure they do), and you show that you know I'm not from Tasmania, so why would I know, and why wouldn't I ask the question?

Well done. Try to stay away from visitors to your state.

According to http://dictionary.babylon.com/clubbie/

Australian Slang
member of an organised surf life saving club

??

[Nuts]

Please accept my most sincere apologies photohiker, I assumed I could make my post Less wordy.. by using such a word. I was following on from your link and the reference to 4wd clubs.

(crow eaters?)

[photohiker]

Aha. Thanks nuts. No worries.

I'm only an honorary crow eater though

[corvus]

Clubbies? What, people who go to nightclubs? Strange setup you have down there in Tassie

Do you intent to be insulting or are you just strange ? we Tassies know what adding( ies )to words mean ,those who frequent Clubs are Clubbers, ies being a past tense with your usage of the language ,just as we may call you a Southie or in a more adversarial style a Sandie or heaven forbid relating to Adelaide a Churchie ! yes so SA and past tense

Bad day again, corvus?

I was asking a question. I have no idea what a 'clubbie' is. I think I made that rather clear. Did you notice the question mark before you decided to beat me up with your parochialism? You say Tassie people know what it is (I'm sure they do), and you show that you know I'm not from Tasmania, so why would I know, and why wouldn't I ask the question?

Well done. Try to stay away from visitors to your state.

According to http://dictionary.babylon.com/clubbie/

Australian Slang
member of an organised surf life saving club

??

Oh dear do we have a little sensitive possum who begs innocence who was only asking a question ?? if you did not know what a "clubbie" was why did you not look it up before you posted your snide remark and I did have not a bad day as I had just returned from a fantastic trip here in our Beautiful Tassie

[photohiker]

Rather than continue with this conversation, head over to the Where is it (International) competition and show us how well you know your origins.

[corvus]

Rather than continue with this conversation, head over to the Where is it (International) competition and show us how well you know your origins.

Have been to that Castle and the other places are nice but sadly not Tasmania with all we have to offer so what is your point regarding my origins ??

[icefest]

Hey kids, try to keep on topic or move it to PM.

[photohiker]

Good point icefest!

I came across Bob Brown's Tarkine page the other day, nice collection of news and information:

http://www.bobbrown.org.au/the_tarkine

[corvus]

Hey kids, try to keep on topic or move it to PM.

G'day icefest,
Who asked you ?? you tend to offer unwanted self opinionated posts on a regular basis .

[icefest]

Corvus, I appreciate what you add to the forums. You have intricate knowledge of Tasmanian walks, landscapes and plants and are often happy to share this.

I posted that with the intent to try to limit the personal attacks that were starting to fly.

I feel that on the forums everyone should be allowed to be as opinionated as they please. By expressing our opinions and being prepared to discus the reasoning behind them we can better understand the very topic that have an opinion on.

I do think that personal attacks like "little sensitive possum" and "you intent to be insulting or are you just strange" do not add to the constructive discussion and foster an environment of hostility.

I was honestly hoping that my post would facilitate a easing of hostility and avoid the requirement of Mod input.

This is not a personal feud, nor do I have any enmity towards you. If I'm ever hostile towards anyone then I invite you or anyone to remind me, and I will do my utmost to stop.

[north-north-west]

Nothing personal icefest, but you could please stop being so relentlessly 'nice'? It's *&%$#! offputting, especially on a caffeine-free day.

[stepbystep]

Some really interesting stuff happening in the Tarkine soon. If there's anyone in the creative industries, musicians, photographers, video peeps, artists interested in contributing to a good conservation outcome feel free to PM me. Particularly interested in people from the NW.

[flyfisher]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-12/call-to-report-4wd-vehicles-snubbing-ban-in-aboriginal-heritage/6089036

A four-wheel drive group in Tasmania is asking the public to report anyone blatantly defying a ban on using vehicles on sensitive tracks containing Aboriginal heritage.

Footage obtained by the ABC shows people driving six vehicles on tracks in the Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area south of Sandy Cape with number plates obscured by tape.

It's a bit of a problem reporting a vehicle with concealed number plates though...

At least one of these vehicles has been recognised and reported.
Clubbies..... would refer to members of 4wd clubs... such as myself. A Landrover Owners club of Tasmania member, and proud of it. We shudder every time we see these idiots misbehaving.
However, just because a motorist speeds or hoons on the road, that road doesn't get closed to all.
Same should apply to 4wd tracks. Too many have been closed in recent times.

The tracks to Sandy cape and further should be clearly signed and miscreants heavily fined.
The problem here is one of education, management and enforcement, lacking in recent times through lack of finance and staff.
All drivers entering this area have to pay a fee for a permit to drive the tracks and beaches, it's not free.
Ideal scenario in my opinion would be to be allowed to drive to the Pieman and a barge organized there to take vehicles across so they can
continue to Granville and Trial harbours and out to Zeehan etc. This would spread tourist dollars and remove the need for some vehicles to retrace their tracks.
GPS trackers clamped to vehicles would help to trace vehicle movements.
Hopefully we can reach a solution that suits all.

Flyfisher.

[photohiker]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-12/call-to-report-4wd-vehicles-snubbing-ban-in-aboriginal-heritage/6089036

A four-wheel drive group in Tasmania is asking the public to report anyone blatantly defying a ban on using vehicles on sensitive tracks containing Aboriginal heritage.

Footage obtained by the ABC shows people driving six vehicles on tracks in the Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area south of Sandy Cape with number plates obscured by tape.

It's a bit of a problem reporting a vehicle with concealed number plates though...

At least one of these vehicles has been recognised and reported.
Clubbies..... would refer to members of 4wd clubs... such as myself. A Landrover Owners club of Tasmania member, and proud of it. We shudder every time we see these idiots misbehaving.
However, just because a motorist speeds or hoons on the road, that road doesn't get closed to all.
Same should apply to 4wd tracks. Too many have been closed in recent times.

The tracks to Sandy cape and further should be clearly signed and miscreants heavily fined.
The problem here is one of education, management and enforcement, lacking in recent times through lack of finance and staff.
All drivers entering this area have to pay a fee for a permit to drive the tracks and beaches, it's not free.
Ideal scenario in my opinion would be to be allowed to drive to the Pieman and a barge organized there to take vehicles across so they can
continue to Granville and Trial harbours and out to Zeehan etc. This would spread tourist dollars and remove the need for some vehicles to retrace their tracks.
GPS trackers clamped to vehicles would help to trace vehicle movements.
Hopefully we can reach a solution that suits all.

Flyfisher.

You make some good points flyfisher.

As I understand it, the 'tracks' to Sandy Cape were to be re-opened, but those further on to the Pieman were to remain closed because of the fragility of the area and the large amount of cultural relics. Hooning on a road is not the same thing as entering and misbehaving in a remote area which simply cannot be effectively policed. Having a GPS transponder might help responsible people to decide to stay on the track, but once a hoon decides to tear up the dunes the damage is done, the fine is too late, and the accuracy of a GPS is legally questionable anyway...

Perhaps there might be an opening for a responsible guided 4WD tour operator, but I can't see that allowing a free for all access (at cost) is the solution to preserving the area. As always, the behaviour of the few restrict the freedom of the many.

[Nuts]

I posted that with the intent to try to limit the personal attacks that were starting to fly.

You now have the benefit of hindsight then, perhaps a good thing bandwidth wise.
White noise, banshees and mystery men, besides the occasional cringe that is easily ignored, all good! Relax! (if you want to of course).

All said and done, I'd prefer to know what's going on down there, what, why, when? (it must get tiresome slapping the same old backs) A public forum & the chips will fall as they will as far as input and opinion from a wider community.

ff, my comment was in reference to tassie (and the 4wd community) being a small place ie. only a matter of time till they are identified, not that anyone would be intentionally holding back info (just so it's clear).

[flyfisher]

Hi Nuts, the term clubbies doesn't worry me at all, I knew what you meant. Pity there aren't moore clubbies, it helps with behavior I think.

Photohiker, the GPS attached to vehicles is an idea from PWS to help with management.
The are has been used by 4w drivers for 60 years or more and without controls as such.
For many years, cattle were driven down the coast and across the Pieman to feed the miners at Zeehan, Queenstown etc. ("It's a different country down there " is a good and informative read, with plenty of historical content)
Still the country is deemed good enough to be worth saving.

Some folk on this forum seem to think that all 4w drivers are bl@$%y rednecks, but such is not the case, just enough to give the rest of us a bad name.
Noted in the press last week that the injunction on tracks could be lifted if the indigenous community gets their way on other land issues.
Tells me that this may be being used as a lever to progress other issues.

The idea of being guided down there does not appeal, and isn't required, just education and enforcement, and some good management.

As previously stated, hopefully a solution can be found that suits all.

Flyfisher

[photohiker]

Hi flyfisher,

GPS attached to vehicles is better than nothing, I agree. Last I spoke to one of the Tarkine Rangers, there were just two on duty to manage the entire Tarkine area. There is the crux of the problem, how can two people effectively manage the many aspects of such a large area even if there was no 4x4's to keep an eye on?

60 years ago, 4wd's were a rare breed. If you drive down any street in any town in Australia you will probably see more 4wd's than there were in joe public's hands in the whole of Australia 60 years ago. 4wd's arrived as workhorses, not recreational vehicles. Added to that, and the increase in population, and the increase in recreational use of 4wd's, what occurred 60 years ago is nothing like the potential blight of uncontrolled use of 4wd's in fragile and historically significant areas.

I'm not one of the people on this forum that sees all 4wd drivers as rednecks, but I do understand that some of them are, and they have been doing irreparable damage in this area. Same goes for other areas. In my state, visitors to the Lake Eyre region have caused issues by removing every visible scrap of firewood from some desert areas, so much so that there is now a firewood collection ban in many outback areas. Visit a campsite and you will see a small percentage of campers who think a campfire is a bonfire. Visit any hill within view of outback roads and you are likely to find attempts to climb it via 4wd.

I'm not going to buy into the discussion regarding the indigenous community. It's a fraught discussion, there are multiple groups and they have their own battles. My interest is in the Tarkine and preserving it's cultural and historical aspect rather than allowing it to be trashed.

I'd be happy with a believable and workable solution that allows responsible people access without destroying the area.

[stepbystep]

Unfortunately it's not a bad 1% ruining it for the rest, it's a bad 30 or 40%. The 4WD community has within it a culture of hooning and ripping up the country.

I spent time with guys from the Braddon and Devonport clubs and once their guard was down and a bit of booze flowed the chest thumping began, and the attitudes to aboriginal heritage were so backward. The stories I heard of one very senior club members behaviour was confronting(he was a hero in their eyes). The attitude is ingrained and is making it highly problematic for the likes of flyfisher who I have no doubt does the right thing.

So, what to do?

Personally I'd stop them at Sandy Cape for a minimum of 10 years, get some serious enforcement down there for that time. Work with the clubs so they can fund track work north of Sandy Cape and from Pieman Heads south. Also around Rosebery and Tullah I'd be working with 4WD and Mtn Biking groups to work on the many tracks in that area. I'd also in that time develop a world class walking track from Pieman Heads north and then east over the Norfolk Range attracting a new 'softer' tourist to the area. Corrina, Tullah, Rosebery and Arthur River would benefit from this type of development.

Oh and I'd create a Tarkine National Park to protect places like the Huskisson from crappy mining ventures. So much potential for many user groups. The clubbies, the greenies and the shackies just need to talk it out. Doesn't work with dicks like Brookes and Whitely appealing to the lowest common denominator and attempting to scare the begeezus out of them.

*rant over*

[geoskid]

Some really interesting stuff happening in the Tarkine soon. If there's anyone in the creative industries, musicians, photographers, video peeps, artists interested in contributing to a good conservation outcome feel free to PM me. Particularly interested in people from the NW.

G'day Sbs,
I don't understand the reason for the continued allusion to things potentially happening with regards to " the tarkine", WHA etc, by a mystery group. Is this approach a considered strategy by the group you are in? Does anyone within the group question this strategy? I think there is a possibility that when the veil is lifted, the perceived arrogance of the strategy will be detrimental to the message, regardless of it's merits.
Upfront is surely the best way?

[stepbystep]

Some really interesting stuff happening in the Tarkine soon. If there's anyone in the creative industries, musicians, photographers, video peeps, artists interested in contributing to a good conservation outcome feel free to PM me. Particularly interested in people from the NW.

G'day Sbs,
I don't understand the reason for the continued allusion to things potentially happening with regards to " the tarkine", WHA etc, by a mystery group. Is this approach a considered strategy by the group you are in? Does anyone within the group question this strategy? I think there is a possibility that when the veil is lifted, the perceived arrogance of the strategy will be detrimental to the message, regardless of it's merits.
Upfront is surely the best way?

Haha...not at all, and it's not for me to comment on how the broader Tarkine campaign will be run, I'm not running it, but it will be a long one.

The WHA campaign is up and running, no allusion...

http://globalvoices.good.do/save-tasman ... ment-plan/
http://www.bobbrown.org.au/save_tasmani ... s?splash=1

Tarkine campaign will be launched soon, my message here is about a project I am running, and unless your interest is piqued to become involved as an artist I'm not interested in revealing more just yet. All will become evident in good time grasshopper