The Tasmanian Special Timbers Alliance welcomes the opportunity to work collaboratively with the
new Hodman government to rectify deficiencies in the TFA that, if not corrected, will irrevocably
harm the sector.
The special timbers sector, who is not a signatory to the TFA, stands to lose up to 80% of its supply of
non-blackwood special timbers if the TFA remains in its current form. TSTA spokesman Andrew
Denman said;
“Unfortunately, the areas set aside for specialty timbers under the TFA do not contain appreciable
quantities of specialty timbers. These areas were chosen by the ENGO signatories without review
and have now been found to contain thousands of hectares of button grass, barren mountain tops,
mine sites and recently harvested coupes. A full inquiry into how these areas were chosen and
subsequently presented to the parliament for inclusion in legislation should be a priority for the new
government”.
The specialty timber sector was one of many business and community groups that were affected by
the TFA but denied an opportunity to be involved in the process.
“Form a special timbers perspective; it is very difficult to support the TFA as it stands. Whilst we
acknowledge there is ongoing work by the special council into special timber supply, this study is
operating within ideological constraints that are not in the true spirit of the agreement and which
are in direct contradiction to the intent of the TFA legislation.”
Andrew Denman President Tasmanian Special Timbers Alliance
