If Stewart McArthur MP, Member for Corangamite, is a good example of our Coalition MPs, it’s no wonder that their popularity has plummeted. In his letter (GA 27^th Dec’) he accuses the City of Greater Geelong Council, and others, of making inaccurate and unfounded statements when opposing the logging of the Otway Ranges and Geelong’s water catchments.

When in fact his own letter is full of nothing but misleading half-truths and rhetoric.

Stewart McArthur accuses those that oppose clear fell logging of not supplying evidence, while at the same time he has made no attempt to supply any evidence to back up his own misleading claims.

He states that "further scientific research on water issues is always welcome" yet in the same letter criticises the COGG for wanting the same.

The complimentary effect that forests have on our weather pattern, ground water retention, and controlled water run-off are all well documented worldwide and these facts are even taught in our Australian schools. With all this in mind and the fact that over 80% of our old growth forests have already been desecrated by indiscriminate logging since European settlement, Stewart McArthur’s claim that "there is no evidence of a relationship between logging and water restrictions" is totally contradictory to common sense.