Barnaby rescue plan
Deputy Premier John Barilaro has reached out to his Federal Nat colleagues with a plan to rehome Barnaby into the Kosciuszko National Park.
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Mr Barilaro said: “I ask the House to picture this image: a beautiful stallion running wild and free, his muscles bulging with strength. When he stands up on his back legs one is overcome by his grace and power. There is nothing quite like seeing a Barnaby in the wild. It is an absolute thrill.”
The proposal comes after National Party plans to cull Barnaby from his New England habitat were revealed. Conservationists have condemned the plan, stating that Wild Barnabys are likely to breed up. A spokesperson stated the Barnaby had caused incredible damage in Canberra and New England and there was a real risk from the spread of wild oats in our sensitive alpine areas.
Doug Reckord, Kalaru
‘Sham consultations’
South East Region Conservation Alliance’s response to an invitation from the NSW Environment Protection Authority to attend an information session on the draft Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals (IFOAs) at Narooma on June 7:
We are so disappointed with these changes to the IFOAs as well as the RFA changes recently proposed, especially the processes imposed on us with your sham consultations, that SERCA will not be attending your information sessions so that you can justify your so-called "consultations".
We find it completely incomprehensible that the EPA, which is established to protect our environment, clearly appears to be aligned with this government in sacrificing our precious environmental values to fill the over-committed wood supply agreements negotiated by NSW Forestry Corporation, against the public good and the public interest. The report of the Natural Resources Commission clearly states that "it is not possible to meet the government’s commitments around both environmental values and wood supply" yet you plough ahead to sacrifice those values you should be protecting on our behalf - shame on you.
We would like to invite your senior management to come to the South Coast and see what the grey wording of the existing IFOAs have actually allowed to happen to our forests in the Southern and Eden Management Areas. This ‘new’ integrated proposal spreads the destructive and illogical practices from down here up to the north coast and makes them so much worse by taking out some of the already weak protections that existed previously.
The worst thing our government has done with both the RFA and IFOA proposals is to totally throw out any semblance of ecologically sustainable forest management. In our view, there should be a halt to logging and your department, the NSW Forestry Corporation, the loggers and our government properly brought to account for the destruction of our forests.
Seán Burke, SERCA
Fired for doing job
Two years ago Dr Lynn Simpson, a veterinarian reported on the atrocious conditions she observed on a ship exporting cattle. She made the mistake of backing up her report with photographs of the undeniably disgraceful conditions.
She was sacked by her employer, The Department of Agriculture, which was pressured by the Australian Livestock Exporters Council who claimed they could no longer work with her. Fired for doing the job she was expected to do.
Fast forward two years, and we have the gross sight of sheep dying in their thousands in the same conditions. By ignoring this courageous woman’s report, and listening to the self-serving promises of the Australian Livestock Exporters Council, the Dept of Agriculture has contributed significantly to the ghastly deaths of thousands of animals.
Dr Lynn Simpson, who I believe no longer practices as a vet, deserved so much better from the federal government.