Our Common Ground

In order to solve the forestry conflict and meet community expectations, there are many issues needing to be addressed and solutions found by the Tasmania public, politicians, the forest industry and environmental groups.

Pulp Mill

Regardless of the feedstock, construction of a pulp mill in the Tamar valley is not supported by the people of the Tamar Valley or by the people of Tasmania. Plans to build the pulp mill in the Tamar Valley are causing serious community division. If it were built, it would be the source of deep ongoing community conflict.

Any solution to the forest conflict must have the support of the Tasmanian community. All opinion polls demonstrate that a Tamar Valley pulp mill cannot be part of a solution to the forest conflict in Tasmania and alternatives need to be explored to find a path forward to resolve this issue.

While Gunns continues with the Tamar mill, the company will fail to secure a social licence and will be shrouded in controversy. If Gunns does secure funding and proceeds with construction, the company will be the focus of serious community conflict. This is not a viable mode of operation for any significant public company. Gunns must explore alternative options and alternative ways forward.

Timber for Furniture, Craft and Boat Building

The Tasmanian community strongly opposes industrial scale native forest logging focused on export wood chipping. To resolve the forestry conflict, the industry needs to make the transition out of industrial scale native forest logging.

While the community does not support the mass destruction of native forests for wood chipping, there is support to harvest small volumes of timber from our native forests for local manufacturing of high value products produced by our furniture, craft and boat building industries. By ending the industrial scale logging of our native forests, Tasmania can ensure these valued industries are guaranteed a sustainable supply of timber in the long term. At the same time Tasmania can meet community expectations to protect our ancient forests, rain forests and other special forests.

Plantations

Over the last 30 years we have seen the destruction of our old forests and more recently unacceptable impacts on local communities from the establishment of plantations.

The establishment of plantation in Tasmania has caused significant environmental damage and current management of our plantations is in serious need of reform. With action to reform management, these existing plantations can provide the basis for a solution to the forest conflict in Tasmania.

Without a community agreement to resolve the forestry issue, the status quo will continue including community conflict, native forest destruction, more plantations established, chemical poisoning and the Tamar pulp mill.

If we can find a viable path forward, plantation establishment could be controlled, aerial spraying and pesticides contamination ended and our water catchments protected through the introduction of proper integrated catchment management plans.

These are real choices. The conflict will not end and legitimate concerns resolved, until we can find a solution that both provides a positive future for timber workers and meets communities’ environmental and social expectations.