MEDIAWATCH: John Campbell Slash Story is NZ journalism at its best
When ever my cynical black splinter of a heart wants to give up on NZ public journalism, John Campbell saves me from despair.
His investigation into the nightmare of slash has been some of the finest journalism of the year…
John Campbell on ‘heartfelt, damning and sometimes angry’ slash report
The Ministerial Inquiry into Land Use, more widely known as the “slash inquiry”, has released “Outrage to Optimism”, a heartfelt, damning, and sometimes angry report into the impacts of slash on Tairāwhiti and Wairoa.
…our under regulated forestry industry that sees so many workers killed and maimed for destructive environmental practices all for foreign owned forestry corporations while our roads groan under the extra weight from the trucking industry moving those logs has never been challenged until now.
We have allowed these Corporations to ruin our environment for their profit and it once again points to the lax regulatory environment so many cowboys operate in.
I’m glad John is holding their feet to the fire.
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From the cut trunks, this looks like plantation slash rather than natural forest. If could be processed into
Woodchip, Mulch, Charcoal, Biochar, or Fuel for Pellet Burners.
Watched Clark Gayfords fishing show this evening , a couple of things jumped out from his discussion on trying for carbon neutral on his show (good on him):
700% increased fire risk for pine trees as a carbon sink.
Microsoft (I think) no longer using pine trees as 50% of their carbon offsets have already burned in forest fires!
Say no to pine trees.
You should read the report. It has a ten year timeframes
The clock starts nowc
Pity JC didn’t do an article on the Horrhore station carbon farming antics up the coast.
Makes for interesting reading. Google it
Google shows nothing about “Horrhore station,” is it spelled correctly?
Sorry Horehore station
If the State Forest Service were still operating the industry themselves, this would have never happened.
The under regulation of the forestry industry is certainly not news and the problems with the slash, again, nothing new. Here’s an article from just under 5 years ago in Tologa Bay, and that’s without trying to go back even further. The news history of these events over the last several years is repeated too. Exactly the same problems by the way…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/358859/it-was-so-scary-woman-airlifted-from-rooftop-after-flash-flood
So a well known issue . What has this government done about it? Nothing!
What will they do about it? I’m guessing they have no idea. They see this as a bad news story thats needs to be taken off the front page with an announcement. The respose will get no more sophisticated than that!
We’ve got the ministerial enquiry. Tick. We’ve had the announcements. Tick. We’ve just had the billion dollar recovery announcement. But the recovery minister just quit to join TPM. See the pattern? They honestly couldn’t run a piss up in a brewery. And yes, National ignored this too, but they have not been in government for the last 6 years.
I really really feel for the poor abandoned people of the Hawkes Bay. The recovery will not really happen, the government will move on to the next media threat to their control on power. Nothing will be learnt! This winter can irreparably destroy the industry in that part of this country forever. Will any politician care?
So if National hadn’t ignored it would it be a problem today?
Yes and one party keeps wanking on about there being too much regulation, while both main parties do nothing it seems