Stanley River Mine site
The Tarkine National Coalition board has met today in an emergency session and has voted to suspend its continued involvement in the Tasmanian Forest Agreement process following continuing sabotage by the Tasmanian government.
“Tarkine National Coalition retains confidence in the ENGO negotiators, and in the goodwill of the Forest Industry representatives at the table. However, the repeated actions of the Tasmanian Government compromise the capacity of those negotiators to reach an agreement that can give a lasting solution to the issues in the Tarkine,” said Campaign Coordinator, Scott Jordan.
“While the Tasmanian Government’s allowance of Forestry Tasmania’s continued logging in agreed moratorium areas, the extension of log supply agreements contravening the Statement of Principles have raised our anxiety over the process, this week’s allocation of a mine lease to Venture Minerals over area currently under negotiations was an act of deliberate sabotage that TNC could not ignore”.
“Tarkine National Coalition has been the strongest of supporters of the Tasmanian Forest Agreement, and we are disappointed that it has become clear that the Tasmanian Government is not affording due respect to the process and is working to undermine the outcomes possible for the Tarkine, and that the Federal Government is turning a blind eye to the increasing attacks on the integrity of the process”.
The TNC does not rule out returning to the process should confidence be restored.
To restore confidence in the process, the TNC calls on the federal government to:
• Ensure that the integrity of the Tarkine is maintained during the Tasmanian Forest Agreement process through the immediate application of an Emergency National Heritage Listing.
And the Tasmanian Government to:
• Implement a moratorium on granting of new mine leases and minerals exploration licences,
• Revoke the invalid mine lease awarded to Venture Minerals at Stanley River, and
• Commit to facilitating good faith discussions between representatives of the mining industry and conservation groups regarding tenure issues in the Tarkine (as an adjunct to the Tasmanian Forest Agreement).
• Senator Christine Milne, Greens Leader: Minister Burke must heritage list the Tarkine
“The Tasmanian Government, in particular Minister Bryan Green, is sabotaging the Intergovernmental Agreement on Tasmania’s forests by recklessly approving a mining lease over 362 hectares in the Meredith Range in the heart of the Tarkine,” Australian Greens leader, Senator Christine Milne, said today.
“This is an area under active consideration for National and World Heritage listing, as part of the Intergovernmental Agreement process.
“Minister Tony Burke should require Minister Green to reverse his decision on the mining lease, since no environmental assessment has been done.
“The Tarkine has been under consideration for environmental protection for its outstanding natural and cultural values for over a decade.
“Crunch time is now, and Minister Burke can no longer delay. The Tasmanian Government has forced his hand, and I call on him to immediately list the Tarkine on the National Heritage list.”
• Peg Putt, Jenny Weber, Miranda Gibson, Ula Majewsk, Huon Valley Environment Centre, Still Wild Still Threatened, The Last Stand: Minister Green and Forestry Tasmania must cease provocative acts
The Tasmanian government and Forestry Tasmania need to back off from the provocative acts they have taken in the last week which have been undermining the Tasmanian forest peace process, Markets for Change, the Huon Valley Environment Centre, The Last Stand, and Still Wild Still Threatened said today in response to a statement from the negotiators calling for more time and space to reach agreement.
“We suspended new overseas market initiatives and protests a fortnight ago as a gesture of encouragement after the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania finally agreed to sit down and talk, but Minister Bryan Green in particular has indulged in a series of provocations,” said Peg Putt of Markets for Change.
“He has announced a trial shipment of blackwood to China in order to eventually establish a new processing venture based on this rainforest species, thus assuming and setting up for entrenched logging in sensitive forests at increased volumes. This cannot be reconciled with the intention of the talks to reserve substantial new areas and decrease volumes of native forest logging with a transition to plantations.”
“The Minister followed with an even more inflammatory action giving the go-ahead for Tarkine mining, a move designed to rebuff effective reserve creation.”
“There is increasing urgency that these talks get to the point of reserving forests and reworking wood supply and we are not going to sit on the sidelines for months whilst the forests in question continue to fall,” Ms Putt said.
“We appreciate that the issues are complex, but we are also increasingly concerned that the pressing nature of the conservation claim is not being acknowledged by restraint on logging destruction of the areas,” said Miranda Gibson of Still Wild Still Threatened from the Observer Tree in a threatened forest coupe.
“It was devastating to hear on Monday that, although the signatories agreed to no new contracts, Forestry Tasmania have in fact signed up 22 logging contracts in the past year, eleven of which are completely new ones, and all obviously designed to nullify forest protection,” Ms Gibson said.
“We will maintain a close watching brief for the moment, but are exceedingly concerned that the longer the negotiations are drawn out the more magnificent forests we lose to the chainsaw,” said Jenny Weber of the Huon Valley Environment Centre.
“We are waiting with high anxiety for some demonstration of the good faith that is claimed to exist,” Ula Majewski of The Last Stand concluded.
• Jared Irwin, Code Green
Code Green will today carry out a peaceful protest in Launceston’s Brisbane St Mall from 10am until 1pm.
The group will be protesting new mining ventures in the Tarkine following Bryan Green’s decision this week to approve Venture Mineral’s open cut iron ore mine in the Tarkine.
One member of the group will dressed as a miner and will pose as a living statue for three hours.
Code Green will be urging members of the public to sign an online petition calling for formal protection for the Tarkine.
