Excuse me but your disparaging use of the word "environmentalist" astounds me. Surely we must all be environmentalists if we want our children to have a future! The environment is our home .... we must all look after our home. This wedging term is so outdated as to be laughable! I commend you on drawing everyone's attention to bauxite mining - we must ALL stand up to the ravages of the aluminium industry but why are you attacking people who have been fighting to preserve the environment for so long already. Are you implying that only "they" should be running protest camps! Do you have any idea how hard thousands of volunteer parents (as opposed to "environmentalists") are working already ... partly to combat huge amounts of global warming disinformation put out by you and the Institute of Public Affairs! ... why put them down for doing so and at the same time demand more of them. On the one hand you also criticise Green Bureaucrats, but at the same time the Liberal Government uses the excuse of Green Bureaucrats (the Greenhouse Office) to prove that they've been acting on climate change for 10 years. You know about the bauxite mining .... why don't YOU continue to lead the way to mobilise everyone to do something about it. Become an "environmentalist" like all us parents too instead of putting people who act down. We will not be able to save the world if people's main motivation is to wedge everyone and make everything political as you have done in this article. ARE YOU TRYING TO FOCUS ON BAUXITE MINING SO WE'LL TAKE THE FOCUS OFF COAL AND URANIUM? WE NEED TO ACT ON ALL MINING, IMMEDIATELY. The only way we can save the world in time for our children is if we stop making saving the environment a party political issue and make it everyone's concern. WE HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER ON THIS AND STOP TRYING TO POINT SCORE.

Excuse me but your disparaging use of the word "environmentalist" astounds me. Surely we must all be environmentalists if we want our children to have a future! The environment is our home .... we must ALL look after our home. This wedging term is so outdated as to be laughable! I commend you on drawing everyone's attention to bauxite mining - we must ALL stand up to the ravages of the aluminium industry. Why on earth are you attacking people who have been fighting to preserve the environment for so long already? Are you implying that only "they" should be running protest camps! Do you have any idea how hard thousands of "volunteer parents" (otherwise known as "environmentalists") are working already ... including to combat huge amounts of global warming disinformation put out by you and the Institute of Public Affairs! ... why put them down for doing so and at the same time demand more of them. On the one hand you also criticise Green Bureaucrats, but at the same time the Liberal Government uses the excuse of Green Bureaucrats (the Greenhouse Office) to prove that they've been acting on climate change for 10 years. YOU know about the bauxite mining .... why don't YOU continue to lead the way to mobilise everyone to do something about it. Become an "environmentalist" too, like all us parents, instead of putting people who act down. We will not be able to save the world if people's main motivation is to wedge everyone and make everything political as you have done in this article. ARE YOU TRYING TO FOCUS ON BAUXITE MINING SO WE'LL TAKE THE FOCUS OFF COAL AND URANIUM? WE NEED TO ACT ON ALL MINING, IMMEDIATELY. The only way we can save the world in time for our children is if we stop making saving the environment a party political issue and make it everyone's concern. WE HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER ON THIS AND STOP TRYING TO POINT SCORE AND PROTECT INDUSTRIES THAT WE MAY BE ALIGNED WITH.

oops sorry Roger,

my annoyance isn't directed at you but at Jennifer Marohasy on whose blog your article first appeared .... I pressed post instead of preview (twice) ..... but I still do worry about the terms "environmentalists" & "green bureaucrats" as though they're the only people concerned about what's happening.

Bauxite mining in Western Australia started in 1958 when the state was a very different place and the south west of the state was still had vast expanses of Jarrah and Kauri forests - around the Gloucester Tree. The population is now 10 times larger, the forests have gone and Alcoa and Worsley should be encouraged to stop mining in Ecosystem 11 and develop the infrastructure for their more remote mine sites.

Substandard try Mr Underwood, the Institute of Public Affairs needs better bulls&^t than that. There was plenty of protest against jarrah AND karri logging, i know i made a nuisance of myself in both in 91-94, see http://members.westnet.com.au/robcass/ for page of Balingup Friends of Forest protesting jarrah logging, they had an onsite community pickets over many periods, admit i don't know status now.

So they haven't succeeded in saving the beautiful jarrah? Hmm, and i guess its doctors fault people still smoke. Greenies in Australia can barely keep count of the disasterous impacts of economic rationalism never mind combat all of them simultaneously.

That this criticism comes with the stain of the Institute of Public Affairs, the multimillion dollar RightThink media wurlitzer thats never done a days public interest work in its heartless life is just .. business as usual.

Sorry, Roger, but we're going to have to disagree on whether bauxite mining should continue in our jarrah forests or not. Putting aside the huge economic benefits that this mining brings to the nation, Alcoa's rehabilitation is constantly improving. As I understand it, not one plant or animal has gone extinct as a result of this mining, even after 40 years, while many of the rehabilitated areas are now being used by rare and endangered animals and birds (although not for nesting).

Sure, I have concerns about some of Alcoa's emissions from their Wagerup plant. They also need to change their rehabilitation procedures to allow water to flow out of mined areas into our water supply dams. Interestingly, it was the Water Corporation in the 1960s who insisted that no water leave the mined areas as any suspended solids in the dam water makes bacteria and virus removal much more difficult in the treatment process prior to delivering the water to people for drinking.

Alcoa has pioneered the discovery and use of dieback-resistant jarrah, a variety that could ultimately be the long-term saviour of the jarrah forest and its ecosystems.