The News Review:
- Italian PW’s on Tasmanian farms
- Tassie meat processor wins valuable GM-free contract
- Collectors: Roving Eye – Australian Timbers (25/04/2008)
- Conservationists ridicule wood waste power stations
- SA bluegum ‘may be 2000 years old’
- Reporter: Lucy Shannon
Italian PW’s on Tasmanian farms
abc.net.au – Apr 25, 2008
They’d been camped in Egypt but it became unsettled there so the English sent them out to the colonies. And it worked well for Australia where there was a severe rural labour shortage. Neta Smith was in her early 20′s when two PWs came to live on her family’s farm at Henrietta in north-west Tasmania. She says they stayed for about 18 months.
Tassie meat processor wins valuable GM-free contract
abc.net.au – Apr 25, 2008
Greenham Tasmania has signed a deal with the Lotte Mart chain to supply grass-fed beef for a premium private label range. Managing director Peter Greenham says the state’s clean reputation was critical to the deal and other industries could also benefit if Tasmania stays GM-free. “They are also looking for other Tasmanian products not just beef” he said. “There’s also seafood they are also going to be looking for vegetables and they’ve actually been contacting a lot of producers in Tasmania to try to source these different products… Greenham Tasmania has signed a deal with the Lotte Mart chain to supply grass-fed beef for a premium private label range. Managing director Peter Greenham says the state’s clean reputation was critical to the deal and other industries could also benefit if Tasmania stays GM-free. “They are also looking for other Tasmanian products not just beef” he said. “There’s also seafood they are also going to be looking for vegetables and they’ve actually been contacting a lot of producers in Tasmania to try to source these different products. National Rural News.
Collectors: Roving Eye – Australian Timbers (25/04/2008)
abc.net.au – Apr 25, 2008
Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) is one of the slowest growing and long-lived acacias. It is also one of Australia’s largest wattles. The best quality timber is found in Tasmania and was frequently used for furniture production. It is considered one of the finest timbers in the world because of its characteristic dark colour close grain texture durability and workability making it a favourite amongst cabinet makers. It is prized for the patterns made by the growth rings and colour it its heartwood which is light brown to dark brown with occasional red tinting. The sapwood closer to the bark is straw coloured. An occasional wavy pattern produces a fiddleback grain which is highly prized by furniture makers and buyers alike.
Conservationists ridicule wood waste power stations
abc.net.au – Apr 25, 2008
Forestry Tasmania is investigating setting up the stations which are also known as biomass plants as a way of reducing the amount of smoke emitted during its eucalypt forest regeneration burns. The Conservation Trust’s Alistair Graham says the idea is perversely destructive. “There is nothing more perverse and unhelpful that could be done in the whole wide world than for managers of native forests to log them and stick them in a power station” Mr Graham said. “To go the one step further and try and claim that this is in some way renewable is deeply offensive to those that actually care about the future of the planet” he said. Tags: environment alternative-energy environmental-management forests recycling-and-waste-management tas Search for news.
SA bluegum ‘may be 2000 years old’
The Australian – Apr 25, 2008
A group of eucalyptus bicostata found on a private property at Mt Bryan in the state’s mid-north is the only known population of the species in South Australia. Now University of Tasmania Phd student Rebecca Jones says one of the trees could up to 2000 years old based on growth rate of woody tissues called lignotubers at its base. Lignotubers protect the buds that enable the tree to propagate without seeds. If the tree is repeatedly damaged or burnt it will re-sprout from its lignotubers forming a multi-stemmed stand of clonal trees. “This growth form is seen in many of the bluegums at Mt Bryan” Ms Jones said. “There is one tree in particular that consists of stems forming an almost perfect ring shape nearly 10 metres in diameter.
Reporter: Lucy Shannon
abc.net.au – Apr 25, 2008
Although I came here reluctantly now I want to go on with this life. LUCY SHANNN: Sister Angela as she was known had a passion for music and hoped to be a music teacher but she was directed into general teaching. In the late 40s it wasn’t the norm for women to have an extended education but at that time Sister Angela began her studies enrolling at the University of Tasmania. She went on to gain a Bachelor of arts a diploma of education and a Bachelor of theology. MARY NNAN: I was able to do well I think mostly because I was able to pore out my feelings on exam papers. I always used to write write for me life and I’d pour it all out. And I’d come up with high distinctions.