His letter of complaint is as follows (with a reply from The Wilderness Society below that):
To: Dr Greg Ogle
The Wilderness Society (SA Branch) Inc
Level 1, Franklin Street
Adelaide SA 5000
Dear Dr Ogle
I write in relation to recent public comments made by the Wilderness Society, publication of material on your website and distribution of a leaflet (attached) with the 30 January 2002 edition of the "Guardian Messenger".
The Wilderness Society, under your authorisation, has posted a number of inflammatory comments on your website on 25 and 29 January targetting me as the Member for Bright and Minerals and Energy Minister.
In said statements the Wilderness Society have referred to my "record" on a number of issues incorrectly. For instance, you have stated that I supported mining in the Gammon Ranges National Park, that I promoted new uranium mines that use internationally discredited production methods and that I am responsible for the de-gazetting of Yumbarra Conservation Park to allow mineral exploration inside the Park.
I have never publicly or privately supported mining in the Gammon Ranges National Park. Further I advocated for and voted in favor of, the single proclamation of the Gammon Ranges National Park. The Wilderness Society is aware of these facts as they were given to Mr Declan Andrews of your organisation during meetings held with him at my ministerial office prior to the calling of the election.
The uranium mines operating in South Australia do not use discredited technology and have all passed extremely stringent environment and planning approvals. The approvals for both mines occurred before I became Minister for Minerals and Energy.
As for the "de-gazetting" of the Yumbarra Conservation Park, I was not Minister for Minerals and Energy at the time this occurred.
You accuse me of having a "nineteenth century, 'rip it up, ship it out' mentality" and claim that this "sees mining and exploration allowed within three quarters of our National Parks and conservation reserves [sic]. Again this is untrue.
These are just some of the many errors in your publications.
Your organisation has had unprecedented access to me as Minister. In a number of meetings your Declan Andrews has described my approach as "refreshing".
Your material to which I refer is not only incorrect, but based on legal advice I believe it to be defamatory and in breach of The Electoral Act 1985. Therefore, I request that you immediately remove this material from your website and circulate a public retraction of your leaflets.
This matter has been brought to the attention of the State Electoral Commissioner.
At this time I reserve my legal options.
Yours sincerely
Wayne Matthew, MP
Member for Bright
Dear Mr Matthew,
We are in receipt of your letter faxed to us on 30 January 2002 regarding our website and leaflet.
The Wilderness Society carefully considers the contents of all its publications and we reject your allegation that the material on our website and leaflets is inflammatory, incorrect or untrue.
Your letter states that we said that you supported mining in the Gammon Ranges National Park. Our leaflet does not say this. Our website refers to newpaper reports that you were in favour of mining in the Park, and this accords with information we have received from a variety of government sources. However, the focus of both our leaflet and website is the attitude of the Department of Mines and Energy. You will recall that we wrote to you almost a year ago questioning the Department's actions in relation to the Gammon Ranges mining leases. We have received no reply to those questions.
You complain that we said that you promoted new uranium mines that use internationally discredited production methods. You seek to assure us that this is not the case and that the mines have passed stringent environment and planning approvals. It is our understanding that no OECD country approves the acid in situ leaching method for uranium production. The method was used in the former Eastern bloc countries, most notably in East Germany and Bulgaria where it was responsible for intractable pollution in groundwater. We are advised that the acid in situ leaching method is now only used in Kazakstan. Accordingly, we stand by our claim in relation to the discredited nature of the production method.
Your letter states that the approvals for both uranium mines in South Australia were given before you became Minister for Minerals and Energy. We did not say that you were responsible for the approvals of the mines. We made no reference to approvals, referring instead to the broader development of those mines and the subsequent radioactive spills. We also understand that the final state government approval for the Honeymoon mine was given in November last year when you were the Minister.
You complain that we have said that you were responsible for the de-gazzetting of Yumbarra Conservation Park to allow mineral exploration inside the Park. You further say that you were not the Minister at the time of the de-gazetting of Yumbarra. We did not state that you were the Minister responsible for degazzeting Yumbarra, but we note here that you were a member of the government and voted for the degazzetal. On the leaflet and website we explicitly refer to support for ongoing mineral exploration. It is a matter of public record that you support this exploration as a "test case" for mining in national parks.
We note that by your statements that you were not the Minister responsible for the uranium mine approvals and the degazetting of Yumbarra, you seek to distance yourself from those decisions. Do you now say that those decisions were in fact environmentally damaging or otherwise wrong?
Finally, you complain that we accuse you of "having a nineteenth century 'rip it up, ship it out' mentality" which "sees mining and exploration allowed within three-quarters of our National Parks and conservation reserves". The figure of three-quarters is an approximation and would vary depending on definitions, but we believe our critique of the Department's approach is supported by the contents of the website as a whole and is justified.
Given the above, we believe our statements are true and our comments are legitimate election commentary. We do not believe that we have defamed you. We do not believe we are in breach of The Electoral Act 1985.
Accordingly, we do not intend to remove the material from our website or issue a retraction of our leaflets.
Yours,
Dr Greg Ogle
Campaign Co-ordinator
31 January 2002.
cc. Mr Steve Tully, State Electoral Commissioner
AND JUST FOR THE RECORD:
Back to:
TWS SA Election Policy Position
Brickbats & Bouquets: Seat by Seat Guide
This website is written and authorised by Dr Gregory Ogle on behalf of The Wilderness Society SA Branch Inc, 20 Franklin St, Adelaide SA 5000.