Australia : Tarkine workers come to Canberra

28 November 2012
Fed up with being left out of the debate about their own future, a delegation of mine workers from the Tarkine region visited Parliament House in Canberra today to argue for a sensible balance between mining and conservation in North West Tasmania.
AWU National Secretary Paul Howes said the delegation presented Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke with a petition signed by over 6,500 people.
“For too long, loud activist groups have drowned out the voices of decent hard working people in Tasmania, and promoted the myth that Tasmania is nothing but uninhabited wilderness,” he said.
“The people who have been living and working in regions like North West Tasmania have been written out of popular history.
“As a result, the Federal Government is considering a proposal to putting a huge 440,000 hectare swathe of North West Tasmania on the National Heritage Register.
“If this proposal is accepted, an area that already has one of the highest levels of unemployment in the country will face further economic disadvantage.”
Rosebery miner and AWU member Mal Jago said the stereotyped portrayal of mining workers as environmental vandals was wrong and insulting.
“The people who live in the Tarkine love the place and care about it.
“Industries like mining have improved their act dramatically over the years, and we’re leading the way in terms of environmental management.
“We’re not against conservation – we just a balance so that we can protect the wilderness and protect our jobs.”
Mal Jago said new projects such as the proposed Mt Lindsay mine would provide new opportunities for workers as older mines reached the end of their lifespan.
“It’s all well and good to say that the existing mines won’t be affected, but what are people going to do when these mines close down?” he said.
“People in North West Tasmania deserve to have a future, and they deserve a say in these decisions.”

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