OPPOSITION leader Tony Abbott does not believe native forests should be clearfelled.
Mr Abbott told a public meeting in the City of Casey he was more interested in conservation than former Greens leader Bob Brown.
“Do I support the clear felling of native forests? I would be most reluctant to do so. But do I want to ban all logging in native forests? No. I’d be very reluctant to do that.”
Mr Abbott went on to talk about selective logging – which sees individual trees harvested for timber, rather than seeing large areas clearfelled largely for woodchips to make paper.
“It’s got to be sustainable,” he said.
“You can’t destroy the asset but I do think the asset is there to be economically appreciated as well as aesthetically appreciated,” Mr Abbott told the audience.
Victoria sends its native forest woodchips to Japan, as well as to the Japanese-owned Maryvale Mill in Gippsland.
Mr Abbott’s comments come as local protesters, including farmers and tourism businesspeople, block a logging coupe at Mt St Leonard, north east of Healesville.
