The real cause of our terrible bushfires

Recent media statements by the logging industry about "the Greens being responsible for Victoria's bushfires" and why they think the solution is "more logging and burning of native forests" are way off the mark.

Here is an example: Locking up precious forest areas is playing with fire

The Department of Sustainabililty and the Bracks government currently determine forest management practices, not the Greens. Current practices include both significant fuel reduction burning and logging. In addition, much of the forest burnt in this year's terrible fires was badly burnt in the fires of Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires of 2003.

Two major contributing factors to the very bad bushfires in Victoria this year are that:

• Logging has actually increased the fire risk in Victoria by progressively replacing cool temperate rainforest pockets with drier and more fire prone eucalypt forests.

• Climate change has now reduced our rainfall, so the forests are much drier than usual

Next the rapacious logging industry will lobby for "salvage logging" of our burnt forests under the pretext that this is also "good management". However, this will further damage our forests, as the logging will disturb and remove many of the trees before they can regenerate, and will destroy many hollow trees that provide habitat for animals that survive the bushfires.

It is time for the logging and woodchipping industry to get out of our native forests and start using the oversupply of plantation timber that is available. There are enough jobs in plantation-based industries to replace all those involved in the rapidly declining native forest industry.

Time to go John, no more lies

Dear John Howard,

Some of the lies you have told during your term of office include:

• That asylum seekers threw their children overboard.
• That there would never ever be a GST.
• That Tasmania's forests would be protected after the 2004 Federal election.
• That David Hicks would be given a fair trial by the United States, and that he is guilty of terrorist acts (for which he has not been tried).
• That Australians don't want a repubic.
• That Iraq had weapons of mass destruction - when you had ASIO reports stating that they did not.
• That the Iraq war would reduce terrorism and make Australia a safer place.
• That the free trade agreement with America would be of benefit to Australia.
• That your workplace reforms make Australia a better place.
• That the sale of Telstra is in Australia's best interests.
• That you knew nothing about AWB's deals with Saddam Hussein's regime.
• That your government would follow a strict code of ministerial conduct and be accountable to the Australian people.
• That nuclear power is the best option for future energy production.
• That changes to the cross-media ownership laws would be in Australia's best interests - when clearly they suit the media barons.
• That coal can be made clean..

Your latest lie about flour being "a biological agent" is the straw that breaks the camel's back.

PM tries to defuse 'powder' keg

"Prime Minister John Howard has denied he distorted test results to claim that a white powder sent to the Indonesian embassy last year was a biological agent."

I think after the succession of lies you have told, it is time you stepped down as Prime Minister of Australia. You simply cannot be trusted and are not fit for office.