To the Premier:

I wrote to you about the above matter on 4 April 2004. Then, I wrote from the head (with little impact), so this time I write from the heart.

Today 13 people were arrested while trying to protect the sanctity of aWorld Heritage wilderness area - most of them well-respected older-aged local residents who had never before been involved in such a blockade. In my 14 years with the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (from 1984-1998) I could never have envisaged such a shameful day. Thank goodness I can now speak out (unlike many others who have been silenced).

What makes me so sad is that these people were not protesting against some voracious development on the edge of the wilderness, but against the actions of the very department which is entrusted with the care and protection of our unique World Heritage wilderness. Somebody got it wrong.

This is not about greenies “sending the wrong message to the film industry”. Those of us who live in the Blue Mountains know that this is a special place. We’re happy to tell the world why this is a special place. If a film company wants to make a documentary of the kind shown earlier this year on ABC t.v. about renowned wilderness photographers Peter Dombrovskis and Olegas Truchanas, let them come. If someone wants to produce an in-depth profile on Milo Dunphy and his father Myles, featuring the spectacular scenery of the Grose wilderness and the cradle of conservation, let them come. Let’s show the world our unique eucalypt ecosystems and outstanding wilderness areas and why they were listed as World Heritage.

What we won’t do is stand by and let U.S. propaganda war movies be filmed in our wilderness areas, regardless of any potential or actual environmental impacts. No matter what the outcome of the court action currently underway, approving this filming activity in the Grose Wilderness goes against the clear intent of the Wilderness Act and the National Parks and Wildlife Act and every word written (over a period of 15 years) for the Blue Mountains National Park plan of management. It makes a mockery of the department’s own filming policy. It goes against your own wilderness advocacy and denigrates your outstanding record on wilderness and national park declarations.

With your help, the cradle of conservation has now become Hollywood’s playground (what will you do when the department receives a similar application to film the next action thriller in the equally spectacular Kanangra wilderness or Wollemi wilderness?). Myles and Milo would turn in their graves. If you still value your time spent on the Coxs River with Milo, you will send this film crew elsewhere - outside our World Heritage wilderness.

Yours sincerely,
Sue Morrison