*Above and below … Bob Brown arrested …
MONDAY, January 25 …
• Stewart Hoyt, 11.30am:
At approximately 11 :30 AM Bob Brown and three others walked into the Lapoinya Forest exclusion zone. Bob Brown and Roger Bradley from Sisters Creek were arrested, two others were escorted out by Tas Police incurring a fine. Bob Brown and Roger Bradley are currently on their way to the Burnie Police Station where they will be processed and bailed.
Steven Chaffer, Bob Brown Foundation:
Bob Brown was arrested at Lapoinya in NW Tasmania this morning at approximately 11.45 am.
He was there to support the local community in their campaign to protect the Lapoinya forest, home of the world’s largest freshwater crayfish, from destruction by clearfell logging.
He is being taken to Burnie Police station where he will be charged and released.
Bob will hold a media conference outside Burnie Police station some time after 1 pm this afternoon, after he is released from police custody.
• Stewart Hoyt, 8.30am: Lapoinya under Seige …
By 8:30 this morning, ten vehicles had entered the Lapoinya Forest Coupe. There are Forestry Tasmania reps, Tas Police and contractors. A grader was seen on Nelsons Road in an attempt to breakthrough to Broxhams road in the heart of the community here and turned back.
Discussions with police commenced concerning the right to protest from private land adjoining an incursion into the Forest by Forestry Tasmania in their attempt to broach a class four stream and build a bridge.
As the approach to the proposed crossing passes within metres of private land, all work was stopped while locals keep vigil.
9:30 AM, a protester in the coup has been escorted from the coupe, and has been cautioned not to return.
Our Defense actions have saved 2.5 hours so far today.
Save Lapoinya!
Stewart Hoyt for FLAG
• ALSO click on the link about an article written in RUSSIA TODAY, an international and influential News Media Service:
HERE: World’s largest freshwater invertebrate under threat in Tasmania
• Paul Harriss in Comments: …Dr Brown is entitled to his day in court, but the law is clear: No protestor is entitled to interfere with the right of other Tasmanians to earn a living.
• John Powell in Comments: Minister, you are a liar. FT did NOT compromise on the coupe for conservation reasons. The coupe clear felling area INCREASED from the original 38 ha to 49 ha AFTER community consultation. Of greater interest is why machinery was operating in Lapoinya on a day of Total Fire Ban. Is that not in contravention of FT protocol on such days. Why was that machinery not supporting Fire Tas?
SATURDAY, January 23 …
Professor Jonathan West was Chairman of the Independent Verification Group of the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement. His report is on Tasmanian Times HERE.
In that he says:
“The Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement (TFIA) provided for the establishment of a group of experts – the Independent Verification Group, to advise the Prime Minister and Premier of Tasmania about matters of fact underlying the agreement.”
The subsequent Report of Professor West was to be ridiculed by the Upper House of the Tasmanian Parliament for having cast doubt over the available peeler billet volumes existing in Tasmanian forests.
Professor West:
… Two key findings, however, should shape any proposed resolution to the dispute. Neither side of the conflict will likely be happy with our conclusions, but we are confident our findings are well founded in fact and evidence:
1. Tasmania’s native forests (not including plantations) have been and continue to be harvested substantially above long-term sustainable yield, in respect of the key product segments to which they provide resources. The two main products currently sourced from Tasmania’s native forests are high-quality sawlogs, which support the sawn-timber industry in supplying primarily building and presentation timbers, and peeler billets which supports the veneer-products industry, specifically Ta Ann.
At present, the sale of woodchips from Tasmania has effectively halted, due both to environmental campaigns and low prices that analysis indicates are unlikely to recover for at least 5 years. For high-quality sawlogs, Forestry Tasmania is committed by current legislation to provide a minimum of 300,000 cubic metres of resource each year, and until the exit of Gunns last year had signed contracts to supply an estimated 320,000 cubic metres.
Our finding—employing only Forestry Tasmania data with estimation models run by Forestry Tasmania personnel on Forestry Tasmania computers, and peer reviewed by eminent independent forestry experts, is that with appropriate allowances for non-retrievable timber due to mandatory forest-practices regulation (so-called “headroom”), the sustainable annual yield of high-quality sawlogs from native forest is between 117,600 cubic metres (allowing for a non-retrieval rate of 40%) and 156,800 cubic metres (allowing for a 20% non-retrieval rate).
Put simply, Forestry Tasmania had been committed to harvesting sawlogs from native forest (not including plantations) at about double sustainable yield. For peeler billets, Forestry Tasmania is committed by contract to provide Ta Ann with 265,000 cubic metres of resource each year until 2022, and it is our understanding that Ta Ann holds a contract option for this supply for a further 5 years beyond 2022. Our finding is that the sustainable yield of peeler billets from native forest is between 76,200 cubic metres (at the 40% headroom level) and 101,600 cubic metres (at the lesser 20% headroom level).
This implies that Forestry Tasmania has also been harvesting peeler billets from native forest (again, not including plantations) at about double sustainable yield. Some hope that Forestry Tasmania’s plantations will make up this resource in future. Unfortunately, the amount of sawlogs and peeler billets that might be gained in future from Forestry Tasmania’s plantations is highly uncertain …
This finding was obviously challenging for Evan Rolley, for when CEO of Forestry Tasmania (FT) he had committed Forestry Tasmania to provide Ta Ann Tasmania (TAT) with 265,000 cubic metres of resource in the form of peeler billets from Tasmanian State forests each year until 2022 (15 years) at locked-in rates with an option for a five-year extension.
I ask, as CEO of FT was Evan Rolley aware that his contracted volume of peeler billets was not available from public forests?
In my view the current management of Forestry Tasmania, whether they like it or not, have to cut coupes such as at Lapoinya to meet these contracted volumes as every coupe, however small, is needed to keep the jaws of Ta Ann and its factories open using Forestry Tasmania’s loss-making peeler billets.
Professor West had blown the full-time whistle on this transaction between FT and TAT. As a result – in my view – an attempt was made to destroy his credibility by those intent on obtaining a large sum of money from the TFIA. For a fuller discussion of this matter see A Background to Forestry in Tasmania by John Hawkins tabled before the Federal Parliament by Andrew Wilkie 4 June 2015 Para. 1.10 The Take or Pay Contracts in the Agreements, Para. 1.11 Cancellation, The pot of Gold, Tasmanian public servants and politicians. Para. 1.12 Why did the Minister Agree. Para 1.14. Profit Shifting ( TT HERE )
The Tasmanian Legislative Council formed Committee A in 2012 which included – rather than excluded the current Minister for Forests, Paul Harriss – a pollie associated with the Sarawak company Ta Ann Berhad from whom he had taken and declared cash ( TT HERE ).
This Committee – in my view – set out to undermine and trash the accuracy of the stated available volumes of peeler billets as indicated in the West Report.
Evan Rolley, subsequent to leaving FT, became CEO of Ta Ann Tasmania where he negotiated a reduction in the unsustainable volume of peeler billets provided to TAT when he was CEO of FT.
The initial deal of 265,000 cubic metres of peeler billets from Forestry Tasmania was reduced in exchange for a payment of A$26 million plus GST to Ta Ann Tasmania under the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement. Loss-making Ta Ann Tasmania may or may not have been shifting its profits to it’s parent company Ta Ann Berhad in Sarawak … a matter that should be investigated by the relevant Australian authorities.
The amended contract between FT and TAT that supplies billets to Ta Ann – at a loss – is still funded by the Tasmanian taxpayer to the tune of some A$30 million a year.
The question this matter poses is:
• Is the peeler billet contract on behalf of Forestry Tasmania to Ta Ann open to investigation?
• If so does this provide grounds for a defence based on Professor West’s statements quoted above concerning those arrested over the Lapoinya coupe?
Ta Ann is still contracted to receive from Forestry Tasmania a greater volume of peeler billets than Tasmania’s native forests can withstand.
Through the good offices of TT I suggest that the readers of TT should try to crowd fund a Lone Soldier Defence using our contacts from around the world.
I will donate $5000 to assist the now-arrested Lone Soldiers of Lapoinya to create a defence based on what I see as the abuse of due process regarding the peeler billet contracts between Forestry Tasmania and Ta Ann that are now resulting in the logging at Lapoinya.
Earlier this week the Chairman of the Board of Forestry Tasmania, Bob Annells – the last veil of respectability at Forestry Tasmania in my view – resigned along with three other board members; suggesting to me that the Lapoinya writing is now on the graffiti wall.
This mass resignation is, I suggest, the end for the dream of FSC accreditation for Forestry Tasmania.
FSC will not and should not be obtained by Forestry Tasmania when logging the Bruny Island swift parrot habitat ( FT has indicated a temporary moratorium) or the Lapoyina freshwater crayfish habitat.
Harriss has pushed the FSC barrow to satisfy Ta Ann and the peeler billet contracts … thereby working against the interests of FSC and forcing the hand of the FT Directors who have now resigned.
Annells knows how slippery is the slope, for trust is easily lost when the auditors for the Forestry Tasmania and its FSC application are both engaged and paid for by none other than Forestry Tasmania.
I suggest the mass resignation of FT directors has nothing to do with arresting protestors but a lot to do with FSC accreditation, a parrot, a crayfish, their possible extinction and ongoing community conflict.
I ask, when will Minister Harriss make this connection?
• Frank again, in Comments: John, Most people are ‘over it’, or we can call it cynical, sad, disappointed, deflated just sick of it all. The rape of the once “working” forests, the plunder and the wanton waste, the mining of the unique commercial, social and environmental forest values Tasmania still possessed when we moved here more than 28 years ago are history now. Right now the terrible fires in the NW in the Dip Falls / Pipeline region there used to be cool, moist Rainforests and wet mixed species forests until 1998 / 99 – 2000. These forests were trashed and replaced with dry, thirsty Eucalypt plantations – what a shame. Now the reality bites – there will be no profits made from these areas for a very, very long time …
Michael Buky: Dear Friends of Lapoinya …
The road construction and the protests have started. There have been two arrests and several on-the-spot fines in the last 48 hours.
Road construction has to be stopped every time a protester is spotted by Forestry Tasmania.
The protests will continue as long as Forestry Tasmania continue the destruction.
Morale is high but the more support we have, the stronger we become.
If enough people break an unjust law, the law gets changed, so please come to Forests of Lapoinya Action Group (FLAG) headquarters at Nelsons Rd, Lapoinya or tel: +61 (0)3 6445 4223 for info as to how you can help.
I can also forward any requests, offers and comments.
With the 50 or more bushfires in Tasmania and a severe smoke haze over most of the state, the very last thing we need is for more trees to be felled and 700 tonnes of CO²/hectare added to our overburdened atmosphere.
We now have a crowd funding site:
http://www.pozible.com/project/203471
Thank you all
Mike
Michael Buky started this petition on CommunityRun. If there’s an issue close to your heart that you’d like to campaign on, you can start your campaign here:
https://www.communityrun.org/start-a-petition?source=petition_email_footer
