The answer is the survival of Gunns and Forestry Tasmania

JOHN HAWKINS
I have been asked why and to whom is it so important to allow the exclusion of forestry from all Heritage Legislation, and for Tasmania to have no landscape legislation on the statute books.

The answer is the survival of Gunns and Forestry Tasmania.
Gunns requires clear and unfettered access to Tasmania’s forests, through their contracts with both Forestry Tasmania and private landowners.

They can enact the avoidance of all planning legislation through the unique-to-Tasmania Private Timber Reserve exemptions.

The logging access gate Private Timber Reserve legislation provides only remains open with the compliance of the Gatekeeper, the lately-lamented Scott Gadd.

This extraordinary act requires no landscape legislation for its successs.

Forestry Tasmania, custodians of the people’s forests, are theoretically responsible for the preservation of Tasmania’s mountain landscape, which they have ensured may be logged to a height of 800 metres.

Above this height we protect that half of Tasmania which is virtually a treeless, above-the-snowline, feel-good World Heritage-listed landscape. That way, Forestry Tasmania can argue that 40 per cent of the state is still locked up; while maintaining access to the good chippable timber below.

This, on the Western Tiers, requires the in-your-face clearfelling of the natural landscape, the great visual asset of Tasmannia.

If you can preserve these landscape and forestry exemptions you can continue these appalling logging practices, but you need a compliant gatekeeper, hence the requirement for a Scott Gadd to control the direction of the Heritage Council.

My submission ( John Hawkins, Heritage Landscapes, Scott Gadd, Graeme Corney, Peter James and David Bedford ) correlates the parts played by Lennon, Gay, Wriedt, Gadd et al in this charade – hence was heard “in-camera”.

Now it is partly on the record, the powers that be are running dead.

Why? Because it is true and no amount of spin will change the facts.

• A week after publication of John Hawkins, Heritage Landscapes, Scott Gadd, Graeme Corney, Peter James and David Bedford Tasmanian Times still waits for a Government response. This website is always open to a fair telling of the other side of the story.