We've had a breakthrough in our campaign to stop the precious Tarkine rainforest being mined. Tens of thousands of GetUp members have been contacting Tony Burke, the Environment Minister, asking him to personally get his boots dirty in the Tarkine before making a decision on whether or not to approve strip mining and open cut mining right in the middle of the rainforest.
Now, the Minister has finally responded, and agreed to join GetUp members for a tour of the Tarkine in the next few weeks.
But here's the problem: in the meantime, the Environment Minister has already been down to Tassie with mining industry lobbyists. Following his trip, two new proposals for mining in the Tarkine were submitted to the Government. There are two ways these mines could be assessed, either:
- under the strong criteria applied to National Heritage areas - as the previous Environment Minister, Peter Garrett temporarily did for the Tarkine; or
- less stringent "fast-track assessment," carried out by the Tasmanian State Government.
You can probably guess which option the mining companies would prefer.
The sad fact is, we're on course to lose the biggest temperate rainforest in the Southern Hemisphere to open cut mining. Why? Because the Government thinks that we won't notice them giving in to the pressure of the mining industry
Let's show them we're watching closely - click here to tell the Minister that a fast track approval for mining the Tarkine is just not on.
www.getup.org.au/dontminethetarkine
GetUp members recently went down to the forest to check it out for themselves and put together this short video. Take a moment to absorb some of the beauty of the Tarkine, and ask Tony Burke to make the right call.
He will be visiting the area with local GetUp members in the next few weeks, so it's the perfect time to show him that Australians across the country are watching. 
www.getup.org.au/dontminethetarkine
Two of the mining proposals are having their assessment proposals determined right now with the public invited to make their views known. One proposal is a strip mine in myrtle rainforest, the other in a buttongrass plain adjacent to the rainforest. Both sites have been classified as deserving of protection and World Heritage status by independent experts commissioned by the State and Federal Governments.
These two new mines are for iron ore and may only be operating for two years - returning little benefit to the Tasmanian economy while they destroy ancient rainforest and tourism businesses.
Check out this beautiful video GetUp members made of the area, and ask Tony Burke not to fast-track its destruction.
With hope,
The whole GetUp team
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