A myopic, selfish and ideologically driven vendetta

Tasmania’s World Heritage Area
Speech delivered by Greens Leader Kim Booth MP
Public Forum
Wednesday 21st May 2014
Hobart Town Hall

Friends, thank you for taking time out of your busy day to join us here to stand up for Tasmania’s magnificent world heritage recognised forests.

I’m going to start off with a brief historic overview:

In 2008, the World Heritage Committee said the following regarding the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area:

(The Committee) reiterates its request to the State Party to consider, at its own discretion, extension of the property to include appropriate areas of tall eucalyptus forest, having regard to the advice of IUCN; and also further requests the State Party to consider, at its own discretion, extension of the property to include appropriate cultural sites reflecting the wider context of Aboriginal land-use practices, and the possibility of re-nominating the property as a cultural landscape.

Similar requests had also been made by the World Heritage Committee and the IUCN going back as far as 1989, 1990, 1994, 2006, 2007, and as recently as 2010.

Less than twelve months ago, on Monday the 24th of June 2013, the World Heritage Committee meeting in Phnom Penh unanimously approved Australia’s long overdue nomination to extend the eastern boundaries of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

Less than twelve months later, here we all are again – having to reiterate the need, and our support, for the World Heritage Committee’s formal listing to remain in place.

Internationally our neighbours could not be blamed if they start to issue bumper stickers redefining the WHA acronym to mean: “What the Hell, Australia”?

What is going on?

And we’d have to tell them, that this bizarre and shameful move to delist the very areas the World Heritage Committee and IUCN have been asking numerous times to have considered, is nothing more than a myopic, selfish and ideologically driven vendetta.

Sadly, that is what it boils down to; nasty, petty, vile, wedge politics.

This is the same nasty, petty politics that saw the taxpayer subsidise for decades the expensive and destructive logging road after destructive logging road pushing into the previous eastern boundary, to then have the forests logged backwards along those routes – this wanton vandalism was a blatant attempt to trash any future protection of those forests by trashing the forests first. To trash the Outstanding Universal Values that were formally recognised and celebrated on the 24th of June last year.

And the lie led by Senator Colbeck for delisting that the area is degraded!

This is the same nasty, petty, vile, wedge politics that we are seeing in the current Abbott Federal Budget with its attacks on the vulnerable, youth and elderly.

And now this nasty, petty politics has zeroed in to scapegoat and undo the historic achievements of all those conservationists who have campaigned for decades for the protection of these forest areas; to undo the work of Bob and Christine in Canberra with the Gillard government, and the work of State Greens Nick McKim and our Party Room in holding the line with the previous state government to secure the 2013 over-due nomination.

Let’s be clear about this – this push to delist by Abbott and Co is not about industry sustainability. This will kill any attempts by Forestry Tasmania, or any other front company set up to deceive the markets, to secure FSC certification, and the markets will not risk losing their customers over previously world heritage listed forests, logged to provide timber contaminated by this political sleight of hand.

This is just about punishing political opponents for their historic achievement.

Its the hard right Liberal agenda of Messers Abetz, Colbeck and Hodgman.

Tony Abbott should hang his head in shame for daring to risk the nation’s and Tasmania’s international reputation, the future of our biodiversity and carbon rich forests, and our unique Aboriginal cultural heritage, our clean, green Brand, and our tourism industry just to politically point score!

This is not the mark of a leader.

Premier Will Hodgman should also hang his head in shame for his failure to stand up and tell Mr Abbott: “Not in my name”!

That would be the mark of a leader.

Well hear this Mr Abbott and Mr Hodgman:

The Tasmanian Greens are confident that when the World Heritage Committee meets in Qatar next month, it will formally uphold its recent draft recommendation that the Committee, “Does not approve the proposed minor modification of the boundaries of the Tasmanian Wilderness, Australia.” Quote, unquote.

And we will then continue to watch to ensure you both comply with the Committee’s further requests to undertake further study and consultation with the Tasmanian Aboriginal community to provide detailed information on the cultural values of the property and its protection.

On behalf of the Tasmanian Greens MPs, I pledge that we will not allow you, Mr Abbott and Mr Hodgman, to shirk your responsibilities to fund, maintain and enhance our unique world heritage area now and for future generations.

On behalf of the tall forests in the Huon-Picton, the Weld, the Styx, Butler Gorge, the Florentine, the Great Western Tiers, Dove River, the Nelson Falls catchment, and the expanded Mt Field National Park, I pledge we will hold you to account.

And I say on behalf of all Tasmanians to the Aboriginal community – this is your heritage, these magnificent forested landscapes belong to you, they are your history, your dreaming and your heritage. We thank you for your custodianship, and we will stand side by side with you to protect them for you, your families and future generations as you have done for over 40, 000 years.

Finally, Mr Abbott and Mr Hodgman – heed the advice of the World Heritage Committee, IUCN and ICOMOS. We will keep saying loudly and publicly, “logging word heritage listed forests? – not in our name!”

Thank you.

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Sub_re_FT_Draft_HCV_Assessment_and_Management_Plan.doc

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