The Greens opposition to removing fallen timber from West Coast forests reveals their ideological underpinning. They don’t just want to protect the environment – they worship it.

The storm which lashed the Coast last month felled thousands of native trees which now lie rotting on the forest floor. The Government has quickly passed legislation to allow a small proportion of these trees to be removed and milled. High value beautiful wood will be produced and Coasters will have more job opportunities. But the Greens are utterly opposed. They would rather all the wood rots and so fulfills the sacred cycle of the ecosystem.

In the late 1970s as a young teenager I was a member of the Royal Forest & Bird Protection Society. At that time I recall writing along with many others to the then Minister of Forests the Hon Venn Young to save the West Coast forests from milling. The campaign was successful and thousands of hectares of forest were added to the Westland National Park and a new Paparoa National Park created.

I am pleased to have been a part of ensuring these forests were protected. However now that a storm has flattened much of them it is simply good sense to take the opportunity to salvage some value from the situation. As the Minister of Conservation the Hon Nick Smith has said – there will still be plenty of fallen trees for the bugs to feed on.

The Greens commitment to the sanctity of bugs contrasts markedly with their view on the sanctity of human life. Part of their policy platform this election is the complete liberalisation of our abortion laws. The contrast should not surprise us. Ideology always blinds people to their own hypocrisy.

Ewen McQueen
June 2014