Premier promises to protect Tasmanians from bushfires

John Maddock, Citizen Reporter

In answer to an earlier question from the committee chairman Jim Wilkinson MLC, on the price Forestry Tasmania expected to receive from Gunns Ltd on wood supplied to their proposed pulp mill, Managing Director Evan Rolley said $20 to $25. He repeated the industry mantra that the pulp wood supply was dependent on the supply of 300,000 tonnes of sawlogs to the industry, as demanded by the RFA.

AT THE Legislative Council Scrutiny Committee hearings into the Government Business Enterprise Forestry Tasmania today, Premier Paul Lennon promised to protect Tasmanians and the forestry industry from bushfires resulting from changes in forest harvesting practices.

As part of his reply to what I construed as a “Dorothy Dixer” from Huon MLC Paul Harriss, Mr Lennon said that it would be “negligent in the extreme” to allow a build-up of forest floor fuel to occur as a result of moves away from the practice of clearfelling and burning.

He said that he would never allow a repeat of the fires of 1967 because of a fuel buildup.

In answer to Mr. Harriss’ question about where we are at present with the process of stopping clearfelling and burning of old growth forest, Mr Lennon said that he was still committed to that goal.

When Mr. Harriss observed that in wet sclerophyl forest the most sustainable method is indeed clearfell, burn and sow, and why would we want to move away from that system, Mr Lennon said that to allow a repeat of 1967 would be “negligent in the extreme”. He also suggested that an unsafe workplace might result and that he would protect Tasmania and the industry.

Listeners were also given the very strong hint that the government is moving forward with the plan to build a 35Mw wood fired power station in the Huon. (A wood-fired nightmare). We need to use the residues or risk another 1967, he said.

In answer to an earlier question from the committee chairman Jim Wilkinson MLC, on the price Forestry Tasmania expected to receive from Gunns Ltd on wood supplied to their proposed pulp mill, Managing Director Evan Rolley said $20 to $25. He repeated the industry mantra that the pulp wood supply was dependent on the supply of 300,000 tonnes of sawlogs to the industry, as demanded by the RFA.

Pulp wood is the arisings from sawlog supply, he said.

Almost from the beginning of his opening remarks, Mr. Rolley vigorously attacked conservation groups for bad-mouthing the industry, commenting that within 24 hours of the announcement by the Ta Ann group of their proposed veneer plants at Southwood and Smithton, conservation groups were lobbying London buyers of plywood to boycott Tasmanian grown wood. He said it was a very serious matter and Ta Ann was flabbergasted by their actions.

We were assured by Jim Wilkinson that Hansard of the hearings would be on the parliament website in a few weeks.

John Maddock
25/7/06