Big protest, little politics
BY ALEX BAINBRIDGE
HOBART — "Greenies don't want to take away jobs, we want to save jobs and forests" was the best message that came from the platform of a rally against woodchipping here on August 2. The plea for Labor leader Kim Beazley to "roll back the RFA [regional forest agreement], not the GST" was the worst.
Both comments came from Wilderness Society (TWS) campaigner Amanda Sully and both reflected the political goal of the organisers — to lobby the ALP. Fifteen hundred people attended the lunchtime rally, which took place outside Labor's national conference in the luxury Wrest Point Casino.
The protesters called on Labor to save the forests, specifically the Styx Valley forest which TWS has been campaigning to protect for at least six months. The Styx contains some of the tallest hardwood trees on earth, one of which was decorated in Christmas lights in December to make it the "tallest Christmas tree in the world".
TWS representatives addressed their comments to Labor leader Kim Beazley with the next federal election firmly in mind. If the ALP vowed to protect the forests, several speakers argued, it would form government at the next election and "Beazley will be PM".
Bob Brown, however, told the Hobart Mercury on July 31 that he was "sick of the ALP getting preference votes [from the Greens] just because it had a marginally better standing on social issues than the Coalition". He repeated his comments at the rally, saying that he would like to offer preferences to the ALP but was "not prepared to let Tasmania's forests be forgotten".
The rally was closed by country and western singer John Williamson, described by Brown as a "true patriot" and someone he "would like to see as prime minister". Williamson sang "Rip Rip Woodchip" and "Waltzing Matilda".
Other protests outside the ALP conference included an April 1 Amnesty International call for greater action on human rights, a union rally for "fair trade" on the same day and an anti-mandatory sentencing protest on August 3.