Wood supply deal extended to 2010

Nick McKim
The Tasmanian Greens today described Premier David Bartlett’s decision to allow Forestry Tasmania to extend its Pulp Mill Wood Supply Agreement (WSA) with Gunns Ltd as a massive failure of leadership which has condemned the Tasmanian community to years of division and confrontation.
What they say… Where’s David?

PULP MILL WSA EXTENSION WASHES AWAY BARTLETT’S LINE IN SAND
Failure of Leadership as Community Division Entrenched
Nick McKim MP
Greens Leader
Monday, 1 December 2008

www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today described Premier David Bartlett’s decision to allow Forestry Tasmania to extend its Pulp Mill Wood Supply Agreement (WSA) with Gunns Ltd as a massive failure of leadership which has condemned the Tasmanian community to years of division and confrontation.

Greens Leader Nick McKim MP said that the decision has extended government support for the mill and therefore erased Mr Bartlett’s line in the sand and compromised his reputation and credibility.

“True leaders work to heal divisions and bring communities together, but Mr Bartlett has now ensured ongoing confrontation and disagreement over the pulp mill and Tasmania’s forests,” Mr McKim said.

“Mr Bartlett has stood and watched as his line in the sand has been washed away, and in a massive leadership failure he has refused to take responsibility for the future of our magnificent carbon rich forests.”

“This decision has massive long term implications for Tasmania’s future, and should have been made by politicians who are accountable to the community rather than the unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats in Forestry Tasmania.”

Mr McKim said that Tasmania’s forests should have been assessed for carbon value prior to any decision being made to extend the WSA.

“The extension of this deal allows Tasmania’s high conservation value forests to continue to be destroyed for woodchips instead of being assessed for their worth as carbon sinks.”

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MEDIA RELEASE-1st December 2008

WOOD SUPPLY DEAL CONFIRMS CONTROVERSIAL NATIVE FOREST FEEDSTOCK FOR PULP MILL

Forestry Tasmania steps over Bartlett’s line in the sand and locks in public native forests as pulp-mill fodder

The extension of the controversial native forest-based wood supply deal for Gunns’ pulp mill increases the uncertainty of the mill by locking in dependence on a highly controversial resource that promises decades of public protest over forest exploitation in Tasmania.

This should add to investor and joint venture scepticism of the viability of the project and severely compromises Tasmania’s ability to respond to the climate change challenge.

“The extension of the deal to supply 1.5 million tonnes of wood from publicly-owned forests for 20 years confirms Wilderness Society fears that the mill will be heavily reliant on native forests,” said Vica Bayley, spokesperson for The Wilderness Society. “This will not sit well with investors and joint venture partners.”

“Renegotiating the wood supply deal was Gunns’ chance to prove its proposed mill is 100% plantation-based, but this extension shows that claim was nothing more than a con and that pulping native forests is a long-term part of the pulp mill plan.”

Premier Bartlett, who established a deadline to end all government support for the mill, has been undermined by his government’s forest manager which has allocated publicly-owned native forests for decades. This will seriously hamper Tasmania’s ability to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, targets that could be easily achieved by protecting carbon rich native forests from logging.

“Forestry Tasmania has stepped over Bartlett’s line in the sand,” continued Mr Bayley. “Forestry Tasmania has become a rogue agency that is snubbing its nose at the Premier.”

“The opportunity to heal the social conflict over forest destruction has also taken a blow through the confirmation of decades of native forest logging. This should concern all Tasmanian’s, especially the Premier, who has acknowledged the division the pulp mill has created and has promised Tasmanians a positive way forward.”

For more information or comment: Vica Bayley 0400 644 939

Forestry Tasmania wood supply projection graph below

Source : http://www.forestrytas.com.au/news/2008/10/bright-future-for-forestry pg. 20

Can Forestry Tasmania supply the agreed wood supply volumes in plantation timber?

No.

FT has published forward projection figures for wood supply availability that indicate that there will only ever be a maximum annual supply of less than 500,000 tonnes of plantation pulpwood available from public land. (see figure above from FT’s statewide Forest Management Plan)

This maximum amount of plantation pulp wood available fluctuates slightly but is consistently less than 500,000 tonnes per year until the end of the projection period, the year 2100. FT has made a commitment to stop converting native forest to plantation (although they are yet to stop) which means the state-owned plantation resource will not expand much beyond current levels, supporting the projected maximum availability.

This means that the balance of the contracted volume, a minimum of over 1 million tonnes of woodchips per year, can only come from publicly owned native forests managed by FT.

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WHERE’S DAVID?
Premier Must Front Community to Explain Pulp Mill ‘Line in Sand’ Backflip
Nick McKim MP
Greens Leader
Tuesday, 2 December 2008

www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today demanded that Premier David Bartlett front up to the Tasmanian community to explain his failure to hold to his “line in the sand” on further government support for Gunns Ltd’s pulp mill after Forestry Tasmania yesterday extended its Wood Supply Agreement with Gunns Ltd for a further two years.

Greens Leader Nick McKim MP said that Mr Bartlett’s decision to wash his hands of responsibility for pulp mill wood supply is a failure of leadership which condemns Tasmania’s forests to a low value and unsustainable future.

“It’s hardly surprising that Mr Bartlett is running and hiding given his breach of faith with the Tasmanian community, but a real leader would front up and explain why he has reneged on his promises,” Mr McKim said.

“Mr Bartlett has stood by and allowed Forestry Tasmania to lock in a low value, low return future for our forests when he should have shown leadership and ensured that all other options were assessed including reservation and carbon sequestration.”

“The future of Tasmania’s forests is one of our most important public policy areas and decisions should be made by elected representatives, not unaccountable bureaucrats.”

“Forestry Tasmania exists to implement government policy, not to set it. Mr Bartlett is accountable to the community and paid to make the tough decisions, and he should be doing that rather than washing his hands of responsibility.”

“Sadly Mr Bartlett is proving himself as just another in a long line of chainsaw-driven Labor Premiers who have overseen the destruction of our globally significant carbon rich forests to satisfy Tasmania’s timber barons.”

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MEDIA RELEASE 2nd December 2008

WOOD-SUPPLY DEAL CLEARS WAY FOR PULPING OF NATIVE RAINFOREST AND EUCALYPT SPECIES

Myrtle, sassafras, blackwood, wattle and most eucalypt species all fair game for pulp mill

Unless the newly-extended wood-supply deal for the pulp mill has been secretly amended, it paves the way for pulping of specialty timber species such as myrtle, blackwood, sassafras, wattle and most Tasmanian eucalypt species, according to the Wilderness Society.

“Most Tasmanians would be horrified to learn that Tasmanian rainforest species can be pulped under this deal between Gunns and Forestry Tasmania,” said Vica Bayley, Forest Campaigner for The Wilderness Society. “The deal contradicts Gunns’ claims that the mill will be plantation-based and should send a shock wave through Tasmanian craftspeople who cherish these timbers.”

“Over a million tonnes per annum of wood extracted from public land under this deal will have to come from native forests,” Mr Bayley said.

He said that Forestry Tasmania’s published projections show that it can produce only 500,000 tonnes per annum of plantation pulpwood, meaning that the rest of the 1.5-million-tonne-per-annum contract for the pulp mill will have to come from native forests.

Under Clause 7.1 of the published agreement, wood supply consists of logs from both plantations and native forests on publicly-owned land managed by Forestry Tasmania (State Forest).- attached

Under Schedule 3 of the published agreement, pulpwood for the mill will be both ‘preferred’ and ‘non-preferred’. – attached

‘Preferred Pulpwood’ includes silver wattle and eucalypt species such as swamp gum, stringybark, blue gum and iron bark. ‘Non-Preferred Pulpwood’ includes rainforest species such as myrtle, sassafras and blackwood.

Mr Bayley said that there is nothing in the agreement to ensure that such logs do not come from high-conservation-value forests such as those in the North East Highlands, on the slopes of Ben Lomond, the Great Western Tiers and even parts of Tasmania’s south-west.

Wood Supply Projection by Forestry Tasmania

The purple is plantation pulpwood. It is never above 500,000 tonnes per annum – whereas the wood-supply deal with Gunns is for 1.5 million tonnes per annum.

The remaining 1 million tonnes per annum will have to come from native forests (light blue, orange and light green).

Source : http://www.forestrytas.com.au/news/2008/10/bright-future-for-forestry pg. 20

Vica Bayley

Senior Forest Campaigner

The Wilderness Society (Tasmania) Inc

130 Davey St, Hobart TAS 7000

Email: vica.bayley@wilderness.org.au

Website: www.wilderness.org.au