News
On December 3 the NSW Government announced the protection of the Millewa, Barooga, Murrumbidgee and Lachlan Red Gum forests. Conservation groups and Indigenous nations praised the decision but those opposed to it are trying to have it reversed. You can read more on the WWF-Australia site.
Our feature song is called Murray River Red Gums and is about Joe Murphy and his long struggle to save the wetlands and the gums from dying. It is written and sung by Jim Low and you can hear the song here:
ENDANGERED SOUTHERN RIGHT WHALES RETURNING
Until the early 1800 southern right whales calved and nursed their young in large numbers in Tasmanian waters. Sadly, in the 1800s, they were hunted to near extinction. Confirmation that the endangered whales are returning to calve and nurse in Tasmanian waters, is good news inded. ABC News has reported that "Two weeks ago a biologist photographed a mother and her calf in sheltered waters off Swansea, on Tasmania's east coast. Now biologist David Pemberton says a Victorian whale expert has confirmed the calf was born one or two days before the photo, and that the mother had been in the area for at least three days."
TASMANIAN DEVIL ENDANGERED
The Tasmanian Devil, the world's largest surviving marsupial carnivore following the extinction of the thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger) in 1936, is to be listed as endangered to try to save it from a contagious cancer that has decimated the population. Since 1996, the devil population has declined by about 70% per cent and it is feared it could be extinct within 25 years.
The animals were previously listed as vulnerable, but our environment minister, Peter Garrett, said that the change in status to endangered would give them greater protection under national environment law.
[ ©
Wayne McLean ]
Tree of Knowledge Disputed
The following appeared today (April 11 2009) on ABC news.
"One of the most significant events in the Labor Party's history is being disputed by two historians.
Darwin-based historians Peter and Sheila Forrest say the Tree of Knowledge in the central western Queensland town of Barcaldine is not the original birthplace of the political party.They were paid by the Barcaldine Regional Council to uncover the ghost gum's past.
After months of intensive research the couple say there is no evidence to support claims shearers met under the ghost gum during the strike of 1891.
They say it is an unfounded myth started by the defeated shearers after the long strike."
Does this mean they deliberately started an untrue story and if so, why?
If it is known the shearers started it, why is it unfounded?
Where is the proof that the story isn't true?
Does the fact that there has been no evidence found make something "a myth"?