This weekend Tasmania witnessed the culmination of years of...

This weekend Tasmania witnessed the culmination of years of minority groups holding sway over policy. There are no new jobs at all and the young people are leaving the NW coast in droves. Funnily enough, the NW relies heavily on tourism, government (both in jobs and handouts) and dairy industries. Sound familiar?

The people have finally woken up. Two anti veneer mill protests last week had a combined total of protesters somewhere between 11 and 20 depending on who you listen to. Ironically the protesters were opposed to the use of old growth forests in their operations, even though the mill uses plantation wood. I can think of an instance a short time ago in Casino with similar numbers and substance to argument.

This weekend in Tassie 3500 thousand people came out to say that they won't put up with it any more. Sbatt, you can keep harping on about how protesters will slow things down, but ultimately there will be a point where the majority speak. The majority in this instance is NSW as a whole, driven by the needs of the most populous city in Australia.

The minority is the few people who use children as protest participants, chain themselves to equipment and get together to sing songs about not using fossil fuels only to drive off in a motor vehicle convoy. They then wonder why people paint them as extremists and don't value their opinion.

I will listen to a genuine farmer with genuine concerns any day, but I don't see too many of them. I just see hard working farmers being blocked from their own land by the above mentioned minority. NSW needs gas, the regulation is in, and the industry is going ahead. Bring on the coreholes, the laterals and the conventional. A big few months ahead.

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/11/18/366272_tasmania-news.html