Aussie Christmas Giant Disqualified by Brits

[Oquist, Ben (Sen B. Brown)]

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Tuesday, December 19, 2000

Aussie Christmas Giant Disqualified by Brits

"Not Proper!" Snipes London

The Guinness Book of Records has disqualified the world's biggest ever
Christmas tree, in Tasmania's Styx River Valley of the Giants' as "not a
proper Christmas Tree", Greens Senator Bob Brown said today.

In a letter to the Wilderness Society from its Euston Road HQ, Guinness
applauded the antipodean effort but said the tree should have been a spruce,
not a eucalypt, to qualify.

Greens Senator Bob Brown said the 78 metres Tasmanian tree which drew world
acclaim last Christmas when it was decorated with 3000 fairy lights and, on
top, a 4 metre star* is the world's tallest ever.

"No desk-bound London expert is going to rule the Australian giant out.  We
suspect Forestry Tasmania or John Howard , who has listed the Styx forests
for logging, may have slipped Guinness a quid.

"The spruce rule is new.  Next they will be telling Australians you can't
have Christmas in summer!

"A survey last week showed most Brits would prefer Christmas on the beach.
So the Guinness Book of Records is right out of touch.  

"A Christmas tree is an evergreen tree decorated for Christmas.  That's
that.  I've written back asking them to think again," Senator Brown said. 

*This star remains.  It will light up automatically (via solar power) 9pm
each night over this Christmas period.

Tallest Christmas Trees
1.	77.8m	Styx Valley Christmas giant. Eucalypt. Tasmania. Australia
1999-2000
2.	76.8m	Tallest artificial Christmas tree (decorated smokestack).
Concrete. Mass. USA 1999
3.	67.4m	Tallest cut Christmas tree. Spruce. Seattle. USA. 1952
4.	37.1m	Tallest current US Christmas tree. Woodinville. WA. USA
5.	25.9m	Tallest indoor Christmas tree. Dallas. Texas.

(35 million Christmas trees are sold each year in the USA alone! GULP.)

Further information: Ben Oquist 02 62773170 or 0419 704095


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Ben Oquist
Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown
Parliament House, Canberra 2600
Australia
+61 2 62773170 ph
+61 2 62773185 fx
0419704095 mobile
http://www.greens.org.au/bobbrown
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