Kim Booth: Dark Day for Forests and Democracy

The Hodgman government’s fundamentally flawed Forestry (Rebuilding the Forest Industry) Bill was rammed through the House of Assembly this afternoon, with the majority of the legislation unable to be examined.

“This is a dark day for Tasmania’s forests and a dark day for our democracy,” Greens Leader Kim Booth MP said.

“This Bill threatens over 400, 000 hectares of high conservation value forests the Parliament had previously passed as Future Reserves with logging, and opens up current reserves, such as gazetted Conservation Areas, to logging.”

“This makes it bad news for industry as well, with access to markets and certification placed under a cloud.”

“The draconian and ham-fisted use of the gag this afternoon to limit the committee stage of the Bill’s scrutiny to less than three hours, ensured the Resources Minister was able to avoid the hard questions about this dog’s breakfast piece of legislation, and deny Members the opportunity to move or debate amendments.”

“This is the arrogance of majority government when the House is reduced to being a mere rubber stamp.”

“In one fell blow this Hodgman Liberal government has damaged our environmental brand, damaged the chance of forestry securing Forest Stewardship Council certification, and damaged our democracy,” Mr Booth said.
Kim Booth MP | Greens Leader