Call off the search, I just saw Groucho's inimitable style on another forum. We're reading his silence here as grumpy approval of Marks thesis.

kkkk

Mark Poynter is not accurate in references he makes to me in his opinion piece.
I was a founding member of the group Doctors for Forests (Tasmania) not Doctors for Native Forests (Victoria).
It is not correct to say that I made "wild accusations about Legionella organisms residing at the bottom of the woodchip piles at the wharf in Burnie".
I made a public warning that was based on science which had established that Legionella, which can cause life threatening human disease, grows in decomposing wood products such as can be found in the sacrificial layer of woodchip piles. The Burnie piles had sacrificial layers which had not been disturbed for some seven years. It was also esablished that the Legionella bug can survive travel for many kilometers in aerosols and on dust particles.
The woodchip piles are colloquially called "the dust piles" by Burnie locals.
Earlier I had been approached by a Burnie citizen who told me, correctly I found out, that 2 Burnie men, in 2001, had been very seriously ill, requiring artificial ventilation. The woman who gave me this information was concerned that the Public Health and Environment Departments had not taken the possibility of the piles being implicated seriously enough.
Gunns Limited, who own the wood chips, were required to investigate further. The study on the piles commissioned, and paid for by Gunns, did not find Legionella in the samples taken. Gunns used this study to reassure the people of Burnie of Burnie and to sue Dr Peter Pullinger and myself.
Part of my legal defense was to get an expert review of the Gunns report by Dr Trevor Steele, an acknowledged leader in this research area.
Dr Steele was strongly critical of the Gunns report, because of inadequate sampling of the piles and other errors.
As a result of this critical review the current Director of Public Health has, recently, asked for further investigation of the piles.

This is the latest from Dr Roscoe Taylor Director of Public Health in response to a call for him to resign:
Today’s statement from Andrew Lohrey and David Obendorf is disappointing.
I have made every effort to seek information regarding the privately-funded investigations since they were publicly revealed on Australian Story.
Unfortunately, these efforts to date have yielded only scant information, with law firm Slater and Gordon apparently awaiting instructions from their client.
It seems bizarre to me that I am being criticised for endeavouring to provide reliable information to the St Helens community, in the aftermath of a situation where a media program has aroused human health concerns well in advance of any scientific confirmation.
The facts are that the available evidence has not established that St Helens water is actually unsafe for drinking.
Despite that, in conjunction with Ben Lomond Water and Break O’Day Council we have added an activated carbon filter to the St Helens water treatment plant as a precautionary measure.
I have already acted on the premise that the matters raised on Australian Story require further scientific investigation and that is why I recommended an independent scientific panel be established by the Chair of the Environment Protection Authority, John Ramsay.
That panel has now been appointed, with five eminent independent scientists.
We will not be able to progress this matter until the independent scientists have concluded their review and reported their findings. It is expected an interim report will be available next month.
In the meantime, I am concerned that the continued raising of this issue in a political way in the public arena is helping no one and could even be damaging to health and wellbeing in the community.
There is no doubt that this issue has caused a great deal of anxiety for many people in the community.
What they need are answers, not personal attacks and I ask people to be patient and wait for the expert scientific panel to complete its work.
I also encourage people to get the latest information from our website http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au

I can understand why Mark might confuse DFNF (Tas) with DFNF (Vic). I don't have Mark's problem, as I recall it was the Victorian branch of DFNF who claimed that harvesting of native forests was causing the spread of the Bairnsdale ulcer.

I can post media reports if anyone would like more information on this "public warning" by DFNF (Vic) from a few years back.