Shock revelation gives chance to retire 40,000 sawlog quota. Booth: Deceit. Giddings: The peace deal

Forests Minister and Deputy Premier Brian Green, right, with Forestry Tasmania chief Bob Gordon

Forestry Tasmania’s scandalous purchase of the Southwood sawmill in the Huon Valley (ABC Online here) is another sign that the agency is out of control, spending taxpayers’ money while its responsible minister is sidelined. Huon Valley Environment Centre has today expressed grave concern that FT has made a strategic political intervention with the mill purchase designed to stymie forest protection in the south, and that this errant behaviour adds to the case for urgent reform of FT.

“Retiring the 40,000 cubic metre quota from this mill would present the opportunity to give full protection to all the southern forests that the independent experts have verified to have conservation values of national and international significance,” Huon Valley Environment Centre’s spokesperson Jenny Weber said.

“Retiring the sawlog quota attached to this mill is a very cheap way for taxpayers to get progress towards the reduced volumes sought in the sawlog buyout, as taxpayers have already paid for this volume when Forestry Tasmania bought the mill with its quota,” Jenny Weber said.

“This dubious mill purchase is a desperate attempt by Forestry Tasmania to maintain an integrated facility at Southwood based on the continued logging of high conservation value forests. This sawmill should have been part of the buyout program and still should be. The Government should immediately ensure that the quota for this mill is retired,” Jenny Weber said.

“The purchase of the sawmill at Southwood stinks of an attempt by Forestry Tasmania to maintain the questionable viability of the facility, where the controversial timber company Ta Ann operates it’s veneer plan,” Jenny Weber said.

Jenny Weber
Huon Valley Environment Centre
www.huon.org
www.nativeforest.net

• SOUTHWOOD DEAL REVEALS MORE DECEIT BY FORESTRY TASMANIA

Kim Booth MP
Greens Forestry Spokesperson
Tuesday, 16 October 2012

The Tasmanian Greens said serious questions hung over Forestry Tasmania’s secretive decision to purchase the Southwood sawmill from Gunns, and enter into leasing arrangements with a third party.

Greens Forestry spokesperson Kim Booth MP said the deal was another act of deceit levelled against the Tasmanian taxpayer by a rogue organisation hell bent on destroying the Forests Intergovernmental Agreement and returning to business as usual in the forest industry.

“Forestry Tasmania has held out the begging bowl for public money with the one hand, whilst the other hand has been busy handing over public money for an asset that’s of questionable value to the Tasmanian taxpayer,” Mr Booth said.

“If we needed any further proof for why Forestry Tasmania must be reformed, it’s the fact that they didn’t even have the courtesy to check with the Minister before this deal went through.”

“Forestry Tasmania needs to come clean about the commercial terms of this deal, including what sort of lease arrangements are in place with Neville-Smith Forest Products, and who actually now owns the sawlog quota attached to the mill.”

“Then there’s the mystery surrounding Del Vista, the company that supposedly bought the mill last year in a deal that Forestry Tasmania described at the time as a ‘sign of confidence in the Tasmanian forest industry’.”

“What’s really going on here is that Forestry Tasmania is once again trying to undermine the IGA process, by making sure that the 40,000 cubic metre quota attached to the mill is locked into a business as usual deal.”

“This whole situation has the grubby fingerprints of a rogue agency all over it, and there are just too many unanswered questions stemming from the secretive way the deal was done.”

“The Minister now needs to step in to ensure that the sawlog quota for this mill is available for immediate retirement in order to maximise the opportunity for IGA signatories to reach an agreement.”

“It’s time to shine the disinfectant of sunshine onto this rogue agency and its grubby deals, so that the public can see just where its money is going and to whom.”

“There is no place in a modern economy for taxpayers’ money being used to prop up a private company.”

“Every time public money is used to interfere in the market and try and pick winners the market fails and this latest game by FT is just a sad repletion of the now discredited Gunns monopoly model.”

“No wonder it’s become a struggle to make money out of the timber industry in Tasmania,” said Mr Booth.

• To be or not to be, that is the question?
Transcript by David Obendorf:
Mornings on demand – Tuesday 16/10/2012
PREMIER LARA GIDDINGS INTERVIEW WITH LEON COMPTON ABC Radio -936

Leon Compton: Eleven sitting days in Parliament before the end of the year, and about 5 weeks in total until the Government have to get more meat on the bones of any possible forestry deal, that the Leg. Co could then see.

Tasmania’s Premier is Lara Giddings. Premier, good morning to you. So, you have 5 weeks until the end of the Parliamentary year, where is the deal on forestry?

Lara Giddings: Well, as listeners would know, we’ve got this week in fact… the people who sit around the table – the ENGOs and Industry – meeting together to talk through, again, whether or not they can reach that agreement – around the forestry deal.

And if they can’t, then industry have made it very clear that by the end of October they will be able to say whether or not there will be a deal. Now this is the first time that we’ve had parties around the table set the deadline. So it’s very different from the deadline we, as a Government, previously have tried to set, which because the parties around the table could not meet have not been held up.

Leon Compton: So two weeks from now we’ll know whether it succeeds or falls over?

Lara Giddings: Yes, essentially, I believe we will know whether it will succeed or fall over. An obviously my hope is that it does succeed, because I truly believe it’s the best way forward for an industry that has to change with changing international markets; changing expectations of consumers and if we just ‘put our head in the sand’ we, in fact, will see further decline in our forest industry.

Leon Compton: But as you will know, Premier, the investment uncertainty that goes with all of these discussions and nobody really knowing what might come out of them, also means that it’s been difficult for the industry over the last couple of years.

Lara Giddings: Well, ahh… that’s, ahh… certainly true. But Leon this has been happening since 2006. So, if you want to go back and look at recent reports that have been underway, you will see that the decline, in fact, has been occurring for many years… not just now.

But obviously what our concerns are just right now are those who are now feeling it. And in fact, ahh… we, of course, are aware that there are landowners today – this afternoon – who will be meeting to talk about the impact of the Gunns… demise, on their investments that are on their property. And that is of concern to us. In fact, I’ll be writing to the Administrator [of Gunns] and Receivers to ensure that they ensure that there is ongoing management of those trees on that land, as they move through the next stage of their processes.

Leon Compton: Do you acknowledge though that time’s up, now? Are you comfortable with a 2 week deadline on this deal?

Lara Giddings: I think it is time that, ahh… time was up. I think that everybody is sick and tired of this issue dragging on.

If an agreement can’t be reached, it can’t be reached… and we all need to move forward, and deal with the repercussions of that.

If it [an agreement] can be reached, which I am hopeful that it can, then we can start building the new future for forestry in this State.

Leon Compton: What are the repercussions of a deal not being reached, in your view?

Lara Giddings: Well, my concern is just as we’ve seen the forestry industry decline since 2006 that that decline will continue and it won’t have any help from the Australian Government to help in the restructuring of that industry.

That’s what the IGA gives us; we have to restructure; there’s not a lot of choice about that. The international markets want FSC; that’s a ‘Forest Certification Certificate’ on their… on trees nowadays.

We don’t have FSC certification in Tasmania. We won’t get FSC certification unless we start restructuring and modernising, in that respect. So there is a lot that we cannot ‘put our head in the sand’ about; like the Liberal Party attempt to do. We have to confront these issues head on … there’s no denying that they are there.

Leon Compton: Are you suggesting it will be a disaster for the industry if this deal falls over?

Lara Giddings: What I’m saying is it will be much harder for the industry to go through with the restructure that it needs to achieve. [4.10]

From here:
http://blogs.abc.net.au/tasmania/2012/10/mornings-on-demand-tuesday-16102012.html?site=hobart&program=hobart_mornings

• ABC Online: Greens furious over secret deal

• Peter McGlone, Tasmanian Conservation Trust: Prosecution of land owner for illegal clearing of native forest near St Helens

The Tasmanian Conservation Trust today applauded the decision made by Magistrate Marron in the Launceston Magistrates Court on 25 September 2012 to convict and fine a local St Helens man $5500 for clearing important native forest without a permit on his property near St Helens.

“While the fine issued to the land owner was lenient (it could have been over $100,000), this court decision should send a message to other land owners and contractors who are thinking of clearing without a permit that they will face the prospect of prosecution and conviction,” said TCT Director Peter McGlone.

“Not only did the land owner not obtain a permit prior to clearing, he was caught in the act and refused an order to stop the clearing when ordered by a forest practices officer.”

“This offence is as bad as it can gets and the land owner deserves to pay a higher fine.”

While the area cleared was small, 20ha, this did not mean the clearing had little environmental impact because the forest had habitat for three threatened species:
– New Holland Mouse (nationally listed as vulnerable)
– Tasmanian Smoke-bush (nationally listed as vulnerable)
– Juniper wattle (state listed as rare)

“Clearing of habitats is the number one threat to species world wide and it is vital that land owners seek approvals prior to clearing so that impacts on the most important habitats can be avoided” Mr McGlone continued.

“We are lucky in this case because the land owner has been stopped from converting the land to paddocks or putting houses on it.”

“The vegetation has been damaged but, if left alone, it now has a chance to recover and provide habitat to these threatened species once again,” Mr McGlone concluded.

Peter McGlone
Director
Tasmanian Conservation Trust

Tasmanian Conservation Trust Inc
Ph: 03 62 343552
2nd fl, 191-193 Liverpool St, Hobart 7000
Email : tct6@bigpond.com
Fax: 03 62 312491

Web: www.tct.org.au

Firt published: 2012-10-16 12:18 PM