I wonder if anyone in the Abbott gov is yet getting the idea that they're all a bit radical for everyone else on the planet? Any observation of what happened at UNESCO shows the Abbott gov position as well and truly out on a limb, with no friends.
They seriously thought that delisting 74,000 hectares of Tasmania's world heritage area would get through. They must of to even try and attempt it. Unfortunately for them though it looks like they've become rather a laughing stock, with Portugal calling the justification for delisting the area as "feeble". Nobody supported it, and the forests have been saved.
So how much did this whole bullshit exercise cost taxpayers then?
From Bob Brown:
The World Heritage Committee has unanimously rejected the Australian Government proposal to remove 74,000 ha of forests from the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
It took less than 8 minutes for the Committee to dismiss the proposal, in a forum where lively debate often continues for hours.
After the two UNESCO expert scientific bodies, ICOMOS and IUCN, dismissed the proposal as "sparse" and a backward step, three countries spoke against proposal. Portugal described the proposal as "feeble" and noted the opposition from the Australian Senate, environment groups and indigenous Tasmanians.
When the chair invited member states to speak in support of the Australian proposal, there was complete silence.
The proposal was unanimously rejected in a humiliating rebuke to the dishonest attempt by Prime Minister Abbott and Senators Abetz and Colbeck to mislead the World Heritage Committee. more
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