The government agreement to stop logging in Tasmania’s wild forests is clear: logging must stop in the 430,000ha that the Prime Minister and Premier said would be protected, Australian Greens Deputy Leader Christine Milne said today.
“We’ve heard that Forestry Tasmania cannot move its logging out of the area. The next step is to issue compensation to those contract holders as the agreement clearly states,” Senator Milne said.
“By continuing to log, Forestry Tasmania is in breach of its deed with the state government which saw it pocket $12.65 million of taxpayers’ money, as well as putting the state government in breach of its agreement with the federal government.
“Regardless of how much Forestry Tasmania says the logging is for high quality sawlog, Ta Ann’s peeler logs, or the woodchipper, the fact remains that logging was supposed to be stopped in high conservation value forests and if contracts are unable to be filled, compensation is payable.
“When this forests agreement was first announced the Tasmanian Greens Leader Nick McKim joined Senator Brown and me in pointing out that not one hectare of the 430,000ha was protected.
“The Prime Minister and the Premier reassured environmentalists that this was not the case. It is now up to Prime Minister Gillard, Minister Burke, Premier Giddings and Minister Green to make good their word,” Senator Milne concluded.
• FORESTS IGA CLEAR THAT 430, 000 HECTARES TO GO INTO IMMEDIATE RESERVE
Let Re-Scheduling Work Proceed
Nick McKim MP
Greens Leader
Thursday, 27 October 2011
The Tasmanian Greens today said that the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) commitment to place into immediate Informal Reserves the identified 430, 000 hectares of high conservation value forests must be honoured.
Greens Leader Nick McKim MP said that the dual goals of the IGA to deliver both genuine conservation outcomes and a viable restructured timber industry must not be put at risk by attempts by Forestry Tasmania and some industry players to lock in the current failed business model and logging status quo.
“The IGA is very clear. The identified 430,000 hectares was to be placed into immediate Informal Reserves, yet this has not happened, and the area is still being logged,” Mr McKim said.
“Apparently the Signatories Reference Group has agreed for further work to be done by the independent re-schedulers in order to comply with the intent of the IGA in this regard, and the Greens welcome this development.”
“If rescheduling all coupes to honour current contracts cannot be achieved, the IGA requires that compensation is then made to ensure the conservation commitment is also honoured.”
“Trying to continue logging in the 430, 000 hectares, while also rejecting the IGA compensation mechanism, is a rearguard action by some industry players to lock in the status quo and rewrite the IGA.”
“While the Greens have long been on the record calling for a Forest contractors exit with dignity package and we welcome the recent announcement that this aspect of the IGA is underway, both industry and conservation outcomes must be delivered.”
“At this stage, the blunt fact is that the IGA has yet to protect one single tree in the identified high conservation value forest areas, and we are also still waiting for the IGA’s decreed Conservation Agreement which is meant to cover the 430, 000 hectares to ensure its protection.”
NOTICE OF MOTION
THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2011
Paul O’Halloran MP on tomorrow to move –
That this House notes:
1. The TFGA Fastnews email that all Members received on the 26 October;
2. That claims made in the opening article ‘Private Forest Owners Face Processing Bans’ are not supported by the facts;
3. One such claim, “Timber is only harvested after extensive assessments, by qualified scientists”, is a continuation of the misleading propaganda put out by proponents of an industry which has sucked the financial lifeblood out of other areas of the Tasmanian budget to the tune of close to one billion dollars; resulted in the recent loss of 2500 jobs; and guaranteed that we still cannot process logs that can be processed and value added by the Chinese;
4. The reality is that often assessments of areas on private land to be logged are conducted by employees of the company contracted to perform the logging creating a clear conflict of interest and a largely self regulated industry;
5. The industry as it is structured now has driven down the value to private forest owners of both plantation and native forest;
6. The current industry is based on a seriously flawed business model of maximising volume and minimising values with huge volumes of residue burnt on the forest floor to the detriment of people’s health and with extremely negative impacts on climate change, and that MIS schemes have displaced many rural families and communities;
7. The Tasmanian RFA, which has been long since abandoned or modified in other states, underpins these perverse outcomes, yet the Liberals want to extend the RFA six years before the current agreement expires, which clearly demonstrates their incapacity to climb out of last century thinking; and
8. Further, this House calls on the TFGA to be factually correct in its communications.
• GREENS SEEK BIOMASS GUARANTEE
No IGA Money to Fund Forestry’s Biomass Ambitions
Tim Morris MP
Greens Economic Development Spokesperson
The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Minister for Economic Development to guarantee that none of the regional development funding available from the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) will be spent on biomass industries that burn native forest for power.
Greens Economic Development Spokesperson Tim Morris MP said Minister David O’Byrne will have responsibility for making decisions about the types of projects that will be eligible to receive funding, and he must ensure the money is spent on creating long term jobs, not furthering Forestry Tasmania’s rear-guard actions.
“It’s clear Forestry Tasmania is desperately looking to find another unsustainable market for native woodchips, so it can continue to lock in native forest logging and prop up its failed business model,” Mr Morris said.
“It was very telling, and very disappointing, that Minister O’Byrne did not take the opportunity of ruling out future biomass options.”
“This IGA regional development funding is meant to be used to achieve a transition away from the former heavy reliance on exploiting high conservation value native forests and toward new, sustainable and job creating industries.”
“From its recent public statements, it’s clear that Forestry Tasmania is right now moving to source Tasmanian native forest as fuel for biomass power stations either onshore or exported.”
“The Minister must guarantee that the regional development funding under the IGA will be allocated to projects that provide good jobs in industries that strengthen the economy, not projects that simply prolong the death of native wood chipping.”
