August 24, 2024

A state divided once again

The idea for the essay that was recently published on the Independent Australia website was bubbling away in the brain for a while. The motivation to finally get beyond the first couple of paragraphs was the writing competition IA were offering for the second year. Time was slipping away so if I wanted to enter it again I needed to get a move on.  

It took longer than expected to hit the right tone and I really wasn’t sure it would be accepted. The subject matter fitted the topical/current affairs requirement but being so Tasmanian-centric I thought it likely to be considered too parochial.


Not so, which was surprising and gratifying! Tasmania certainly is no stranger to division. When this stadium idea was first mooted it’s unlikely anyone thought it would develop into the monster it’s become. Or cause such anger, anxiety and social division the length and breadth of the island. Or that it would result in going to an election 12 months early – the result of which has meant even more political uncertainty than there was before. Hence the idea for this article about yet another campaign being waged in Tasmania that currently has no end in sight but has divided public opinion yet again.


https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/a-state-divided,18879 

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The story of the campaign to stop  Gunns Ltd building a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley.
By Anne Layton-Bennett June 8, 2025
Part memoir and part story of how a community came together and stopped a pulp mill being built in Tasmania's Tamar Valley.
Tasmanians stood up as one in opposition to an over-ambitious timber company - and won.
By Anne Layton-Bennett May 16, 2025
For 12 years Tasmanians steadfastly opposed the building of a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley. The campaign was long and hard and took its tioll, but the community won it. This book is their story.
Our purple smoke bush is ablaze with its fiery glory every autumn.
By Anne Layton-Bennett April 15, 2025
A lovely small tree that comes into its own each autumn with a vibrant seasonal display of colour.

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