THE EXCELLENT reporting and letters in Tas Country, Bob Loone’s truth, have not been the only coverage in rural newspapers of the serious problems arising as a result of the Federal Government’s 2020 Plantation Vision (which has removed impediments to the increase of Australia’s plantation estate to 3 million hectares by year 2020).
Last week’s article in Stock and Land (May 18) revealed the poor report card of Blue gum managed investment schemes (MIS) based on the findings of Melbourne University School of Agriculture researchers Associate Professor (Farm Business Management) Bill Malcolm and Mr Patrick Mackarness (a land valuer and rural economist).
Mr Mackarness argues that the Managed Investments Act (1998) allows for a situation whereby investment managers are not required to give annual financial accounts to investors or report on annual productivity of investments eg. the annual growth rates of plantation timber.
To allay fears Mr Mackarness believes that the MIS Act should provide for the publication of an independent audit of the actual growth in each plantation each year.
In Tasmania there are widespread anecdotal accounts of poor growth in plantation trees.
Further to this concern is the overpriced costs of establishing a timberlot (see John Hayward’s letter Tas Country 26 May) and the lack of accountability to investors on this point. Mr Mackarness says this should be countered by detailed costings for plantation establishment activities, independently benchmarked by a forester, to show that the investor is receiving fair value.
As a result of this research there has been a call to abandon the 2020 Plantation Vision.
The Weekly Times (24 May) has a story based on a CSIRO report that found that if the plantation estate trebled by year 2020 (as is the aim of the 2020 Vision) 1400 gigalitres of water could be sucked out of the Murray Darling Basin within 20 years virtually entirely offsetting the amount governments are seeking to return to it.
Once again the response of the plantation industry has been dismissive, disappointing and illogical.
Tree Plantations Australia chief executive Allan Hansard has tried to deflect attention by stating that plantations will be less significant than climate change in reducing water in the Basin.
We surely have much more scope to control the detrimental impact of the tree farm industry by radically reforming the leglislation governing plantation establishment than we do over climate change.
(Dr) Frank Nicklason
West Hobart
