Evan Rolley on the record …

The protest by Groundswell referred to by Evan Rolley

• David Obendorf, For The Record, Transcript of Evan Rolley interview on ABC Local Radio

Evan Rolley’s take on Forestry [Version 2012 ]

[i]Ta Ann rarely comment publicly but they did so on Tuesday 13 November through their Executive Director (and former Forestry Tasmanian CEO) Evan Rolley.

Ta Ann employs 140 workers at its two rotary veneer mills at Smithton and Southwood.[/i]

Based on the transcript of an interview with ABC-Hobart’s [b]Leon Compton[/b] on 13 November 2012.

http://blogs.abc.net.au/tasmania/2012/11/mornings-on-demand-131112.html?site=hobart&program=hobart_mornings

[b]On the current protests against Ta Ann Tasmania[/b]

Evan Rolley: Well it’s very hard for the company to continue operations in Tasmania.

If you have a look at the photo that is in the Advocate you’ll see the log that they [the protestors] are locked in, locked up against. You’ll see the log diameter is no larger than the size of the face of one of the protestors. It is clearly from a regrowth forest in Circular Head. These were forests logged 60, 70, 80 years ago that have been regrown as regrowth native forest. And clearly if those sorts of supply – if they remain contentious – there’s very little wood available in Tasmania for a company to operate.

…

If people are going to protest as young as that – you know – less than 30 or 40 years old being processed in a modern, state-of-the art mill. I see very little prospect for ahhm… a consensus [on a forest peace deal].

Leon Compton: You say it’s clearly from a regrowth forest; why couldn’t it be a smaller log from a larger and older forest.

Evan Rolley: Well because you can see from the size of the log and the characteristics of the log… (slight pause)… that it’s, ahh… regrowth forest log. Logs around 55 to 55 years of age are the logs that are being processed [by Ta Ann Tasmania].

The Company simply doesn’t process old-growth logs. And this is just another example, however, of how difficult it is going to be to operate if every log that sourced from a native forest; even a regrown native forest – is out of bounds for the Company in terms of its value-added operation.

The way the debate [on the IGA on forestry] has been framed is really around the ‘high value conservation forests’. If you go back over 30 years the debate was about moving out of ‘tall, old forests’ in Tasmania; it moved on to a debate about ‘wilderness’ forests and moving out of ‘wilderness areas’ and then ‘old growth forest’… and now ‘high conservation value forests’.

There’s been a report about the value of High Conservation Value Forests and the whole point of the peace process which Ta Ann fully supported. One of the few companies that from [i]day-one[/i] has fully supported that process; that debate has about: how do you protect the maximum extent of these areas with high conservation value and have a remaining area of regrowth forest [b]and plantation[/b] that can sustain value added operations.

Leon Compton: Do you need this peace deal to work for your Company to survive in Tasmania.

Evan Rolley: Well that why we’ve supported the peace process – right from the beginning. And we continued through the earlier part of this year doing trials on a range of different plantation materials that became available… and, and other less controversial wood supply.

So we’ve been in there fully supporting the process trying to move to a position where there can be agreement; so that the future of this new investment – high-value, value-adding process – can continue in Tasmania.

I can’t see how we [Ta Ann] can have a future [in Tasmania], if the wood supply cannot be provided that enables the operation to be run profitably employing Tasmanians. The operation is on the knife edge as it is.

It made it very difficult when people have told lies about the operations of the Company; misinformed markets about the Company. And there’s no problem with the markets in Japan. If you talk to people buying flooring product in Japan, they don’t perceive some change. What’s happened is markets have been black-mailed into a view that Tasmania can’t sustainably supply [timber] materials.

Evan Rolley: What we’re saying is, let us know the volume available from the agreed areas of production will be. We’ll set about trying to manage; restructure our business so that we can continue this high value, very modern way of processing wood in Tasmania.

The Government and the Leader of the Opposition both went to Japan to reassure markets that ahh… Tasmania was supplying wood to Ta Ann sustainably and that clearly was not sufficient to change the opinion of the [Japanese buyers] companies involved.

[b]On the foregone of production at Ta Ann’s mills in 2012[/b]

Evan Rolley: With the reduction in our markets that had been affected by the campaigns of sabotage against Tasmania and against Ta Ann, we’ve had to respond. The Company has worn all of those costs internally. What we were hoping for was a quick resolution in March or April [2012], it’s now November. We are hoping over the next two week people will have enough [i]good heart and good common sense[/i] to reach a final agreement.

[b]On seeing an end to forest protests[/b]

Evan Rolley: I don’t think Company operating as an export-operation… can operate in an environment where its employees are threatened – as our employees were yesterday. Where there’s a continual use of Company time and resources in managing protest activity and you know, where you trying to profitably and sensibly manage a regrowth and plantation resource for the future.

[b]On the viability of Ta Ann Tasmania[/b]

Evan Rolley: Certainly the Board of the Company met last week and our operations in Tasmania are on now a knife edge. … We need an agreement about the areas of wood supply for this Company [Ta Ann Tasmania]

I don’t think the Company; ahhm… is opposed to areas of high conservation forest being reserved. In fact we’ve supported that peace process.

What we’re saying is let us know what the volume available from agreed areas of production will be. We’ll then set about trying to manage; restructure our business so that we can continue this high value; very modern way of processing wood in Tasmania.

[b]On a “Letter of Comfort” sent out by TWS and ACF to Ta Ann’s customers[/b]

The Company has reduced its operations by more than 30% to accommodate both the market and the reduced supply from the areas that have been agreed to supply logs during the peace process.

It was certainly helpful to have support both from the ACF and the Wilderness Society. They acknowledge that this company is doing everything it possibly can to support the peace process.

[b]On Ta Ann’s transition to using a 100% plantation-based resource[/b]

We’ve done a series of trials using plantation material. We used some 23-year old [i]globulus[/i] [Blue gum] plantations earlier this year. What we found was the productivity in the mill dropped by about 40% and the recovery of the face and back grades dropped about 30%. So we’ll need to… very carefully consider the type of products that are produced and what is the blend and the mix that is available.

People forget that while Tasmania has a large area of plantation, in effect, much of it hasn’t been thinned and pruned, and was grown for a [Gunns’ Tamar Valley] pulp mill. So it’s not ideally suited to rotary veneer.

[b]On co-operation shown by Ta Ann Tasmania to the forest peace deal[/b]

We’ve offered to reduce the overall contracts – on a [i]commercial, no disadvantage basis[/i] – to help the peace process. As I said, we’ve done thousands of dollars of trials to see how we [i]might[/i]be able to use some of the plantation wood that is available.

[b] On Ta Ann Tasmania’s existing wood supply contracts[/b]

Leon Compton: When you say a ‘no disadvantage test’ you mean you’ve said you’ll reduce the amount of timber you’ll take in – on contract – in return for compensation.

Evan Rolley: Well clearly, yes. I mean we’ve got a 15-year contract with Forestry Tasmania; with the State Government. The company invested because both the State and federal governments and their Ministers gave assurances around ‘sovereign risk’.

Now if an investment of $84 million cannot be made with confidence around ‘sovereign risk’, they’ll be very little investment in Tasmania in the future.

[b]Evan Rolley on using native forests as a wood supply for Ta Ann[/b]

If there’s an area agreed of the native forest – outside the high conservation value areas – surely that area, and the area of native private forest, is suddenly ‘out-of-bounds’. Are we seriously suggesting that growing… regrowing native timbers for use in a timber industry is somehow going to be a benefit to Society? I don’t believe that that the case.

[b]Evan Rolley on Tasmania’s current plantation wood resource[/b]

I don’t recall anyone suggesting that it’s possible in the next 15 to 20 years to have an entirely plantation-based industry. There simply isn’t the wood in the ground – that’s being thinned and pruned – to have an industry of any size. Unless, of course, we talking about having a ‘cottage industry’ of perhaps one or two sawmills that,ahh… would have to be reconfigured. And it certainly wouldn’t provide – with the wood in the ground today – the future of a viable forestry sector in Tasmania.

[b]On Ta Ann Tasmania’s current ‘Knife Edge’[/b]

Leon Compton: Ta Ann met as a Board to discuss your future in Tasmania. When will you make a final decision on that?

Evan Rolley: Within the next two weeks.

Leon Compton: And is that based on what happens inside the peace process?

Evan Rolley: Well, very much so. I mean, we’ve… we’ve spent a lot of time – as I’ve said – we’ve put a lot of energy in trying to identify alternative, less controversial sources [of timber]; we’ve supported the peace process. But the time has now come, ahhm… it’s costing thousands of dollars to continue to run these operations in this environment. We need a resolution and we need it in the next two weeks. … We are running at a loss at the moment.

[b]On expansion forestry opportunities for Ta Ann Tasmania and on ‘thinking thin’[/b]

There are a number of expansion opportunities – to take the veneer that is currently dried and processed and exported, ahh… to be made up into various products. We could see the investment of the processing of that here in Tasmania; in the production of ply woods for a range of different products – whether they’re flooring products in the Australian market, structural plywoods that used in construction.

There are a range of… ‘thinking thin’ is the way of the future. ‘Think thin’ accounts for these smaller diameter logs; you’re able to get greater recovery; different range of products. [i]Engineered wood [/i] products are the future in this area of these lower grade smaller diameter logs.

So we see ourselves as being complimentary to the hardwood sawmill sector using the material that they are unable to saw. And doing these high value-added products for the future.