The Hobart Mercury, 12 March 2011
Ah, the good old days when Big Red promised us all a glorious closed loop, independently umpired, pulpy future. Now I think we can all agree that events have shown that Big Red was talking a load of, well, pulp. No promise too lavish, no guideline too strict, no rule too harsh, until they become inconvenient and were clearfelled forthwith. That was of course the Big Red Way.
No doubt Little Red will prove much the same. No native forests going into the mill? Sure, until it turns out that the numbers don’t add up at which point “native forest” simply becomes a plantation that hasn’t met a bulldozer yet. Bit of a stink about the place? That vindaloo you ate last night. Poisons pouring into Bass Strait? It was just a one-off and those fish were bound to die at some point and anyway it will cost a million dollars a day if we get shut down etc. But don’t worry, the poor bastard who reported the breach will be fired imediately.
Too big to fail. Until it does, of course, and then the lucky taxpayers get to bail it out.
Welcome back, Big Red.
Oh ye of little faith. Great toon, but I’m surprised Lennon as a cheerleader got through the censors.
Little faith would be overstating the case.
Faith? Faith’s earned, not pissed crapped spat possumstomped fisted and generally forcibly felched upon.
…which is of course the slightly less polite way of putting it.
But fear not, a simple line drawn in the sand will fix everything…
I can’t help thinking one of the reasons Ol’ Backflip got the bullet was because his heart wasn’t really in it when it came to the pulp mill.
let’s wait and see who else gets pulped…