DEAR News of the Area,

Former Labor politician and greenhouse gas enthusiast Joel Fitzgibbon has taken a job as lobbyist for the Forest Products Association.

What possible use is an ex-parliamentarian with personal access to many “mates” within government?

The question answers itself.

History records Joel likes a good coal fire, it’s certain he’ll apply the same burning enthusiasm to the recently-released “State of the Environment Report”.

He won’t like what peer-reviewed research states, our forests and associated biodiversity are in serious decline.

I don’t know how much Joel Fitzgibbon knows about timber or the remnants of natural forest that still stand.

I do know that he and his cashed up paymaster will have difficulty convincing the residents of Kalang and Bellingen that logging the habitat of the koala and greater glider is based on good science.

At some stage in history the decline of our native forests must become obvious.

The attempt to log the prime upper reaches of the Kalang River may be the decisive moment that halts logging of native forests.

That time is arriving soon.

Regards,
Warren TINDALL,
Bellingen.