LYONS Liberal MHR Eric Hutchinson has called on the state government to postpone the final enactment of the Tasmanian Forests legislation until the plight of speciality timber users can be better investigated.
Mr Hutchinson said today that the roll-out of the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement was a shambles and the state’s speciality timber manufacturers were among the worst affected.
He said that speciality timber manufacturers had believed they had been provided for under the terms of the new agreement with access to enough resource to keep those who remained in the industry financially viable.
But they had since found that much of the area officially set aside for speciality timber harvesting was useless to them.
Much of it is button grass plain, has been re-sown as eucalypt plantation or is just poor quality ground producing low grade trees.
“Speciality timber users are already struggling to get resource,’’ Mr Hutchinson said.
“But these are the kind of people that we want to remain in the industry.
“They are furniture makers and restorers, boat builders and musical instrument makers who are industry manufacturers.
“They are not responsible for trees being cut down and shipped out of the state _ they are producing goods of the highest standard.’’
Mr Hutchinson said that supplies of the prized blackheart sassafrass had almost disappeared and there were concerns that there would soon not be enough celery top pine to meet demand.
He w ants the state government to delay gazetting the Forest Management Bill to sort out supply for this sector of the industry rather than wipe it out.
LYONS Liberal MHR Eric Hutchinson
