Rising above "us & them" | OPINION

These two words have kept on cropping up over the past 30 years or so that I've been doing a bit of research before writing this column.

There is a law in physics which states "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction".

That was in the context of chemistry.

But it holds in the context of human behaviour.

If it weren't for them, then there would be no reaction to any action by us.

The noun "action" covers a multitude of sins if you believe the dictionaries - there are 16 definitions in the Macquarie one, to give an example.

The 13th definition is appropriate for the rest of this column: "a proceeding instituted by one party against another".

PROTECTION of native forests by conservation groups against tree felling by logging companies is the example I've been following.

This has been going on for years, particularly in Tasmania but it's all over Australia.

The latest spat is in Victoria.

To quote parts of the column on page 7 in the Melbourne Age on March 14: "Victoria's troubled state-owned forestry operation will close on June 30 after years of financial losses and allegations of mismanagement and spying on environmentalists.

"In the financial year 2022-2023, VicForests returned a net loss of $60.1 million, despite receiving a $149 million bailout from the state government... this followed a loss of $54.2 million in the previous year.

"Its lawyers made the announcement... during a hearing yesterday for a Supreme Court challenge by community group Wombat Forestcare.

"Forestry expert Professor David Lindenmayer described VicForests as a rogue operator... that was involved in illegal logging on steep slopes... frankly, it's fantastic that they will be gone."

THIS has brought on a significant attack of déjà vu, reminding me of a similar clash in the late 70s here in Tasmania involving the aerial spraying companies and the state government on the definition of spraying exclusion zones.

To cut a long story short, it was eventually sorted out by, guess what, representatives from both sides sitting down - at the same table - and hammering out a joint statement.

Going back to the VicForest issue, I wonder if the two sides have actually attempted this?

We went further on the issue of fertiliser usage and asked the government to audit industry usage codes of practice which we had devised - this generated a very positive response.

All this happened many years ago and I have to admit I now have nowhere near the many contacts I had in industry and government in those days - I "retired" 15 years ago.

I SUSPECT the us and them syndrome is here to stay and, realistically, is part of human nature - the VicForest example is almost certainly one of many.

Having said that, there really needs to be some attempts to overcome it.

I'd be very interested to hear about just how much us and them dialogue is going on in your neck of the woods.