KIM BOOTH
The Tasmanian Greens today (Wednesday) refuted claims by the Forest Industry Association of Tasmania (FIAT) that only plantation timber will be used in the proposed Gunns’ pulp mill, and accused the organisation of attempting to deliberately deceive the Tasmanian public over the supply of native forest timber to the company as pulpwood.

Greens Member for Bass and Pulp Mill spokesperson Kim Booth MP said that Forestry Tasmania’s Executive General Manager, Dr Hans Drielsma, made it clear during last year’s Government Businesses Estimates Scrutiny Committee that the Pulpwood Supply Agreement with Gunns Ltd, will supply native forest timber as part of the 1.5 million tonnes commitment.

Mr Booth also pointed to Clause 7 of the Long Term Pulpwood Supply Agreement between Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Ltd, which also states that:

7. SOURCE AND PLANNING OF PULPWOOD SUPPLY

7.1 General

(a) Subject to Clause 7.5, Pulpwood to be Made Available to Gunns by Forestry Tasmania under this Contract will be obtained from the Supply Sources, being from:

(i) native forest on State Forest;

(ii) eucalypt Plantations on State Forest; …

“It is an outrageous and dishonest claim for anyone within the forestry industry to make, that the proposed Gunns’ pulp mill at Longreach will only source plantation timber as its pulp feedstock,” Mr Booth said.

“The fact that Forestry Tasmania’s Executive General Manager has stated before a Parliamentary Committee that the long-term pulp wood supply agreement with Gunns provides for 1.5 million tonnes of timber to the company as pulp wood, and that a proportion of that, ‘will come from the rest of the forest estate’, which exposes any assertion to the contrary at best ill-informed, or worst, to be a lie.”

“The information on the public record makes it very clear that native forests will be provided to Gunns under their pulpwood supply agreement, and it is now incumbent upon industry representative, including FIAT, to retract false statements trying to claim otherwise.”

“If the company has truly changed its mind and will not use any native forest feedstock in its pulp mill, then it should immediately seek an amendment to the Long Term Pulpwood Supply agreement to remove all reference from native forest timber being supplied as feedstock by Forestry Tasmania.”

“Until that happens forest industry comment must provide all the facts and be upfront and honest about the native forest timber component of the Wood Supply Agreement,” Mr Booth said.

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References:

[1] Long Term Pulpwood Supply Agreement, Contract Of Sale No. 917 of 20 December 2007; between Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Limited; pg 16.

[2] HANSARD Excerpt – Wednesday 3 December 2008 – House of Assembly – Government Businesses Scrutiny Committee – Forestry Tasmania

Dr Drielsma – …I’d have to check the detail – that there is a certain amount of plantation wood that we have projected. We have made that very clear and public. The remainder of what we have projected is available will come from the rest of the forest estate. As to what Gunns will use in their pulp mill, that is entirely a matter for them. We have a contract for 1.5 million tonnes and their mill is obviously going to use a lot more and they have lots of other sources of timbers, as we understand, that will feed that mill.

Mr Booth – So to make it absolutely crystal clear, there will be 1 million tonnes of native forest mixed species going to Gunns, you are not sure whether they will use that in the pulp mill, but nonetheless FT will continue to provide another 1 million tonnes for whatever purposes Gunns wants as pulp wood.

Dr Drielsma -We will provide a total of 1.5 million, which is the contract we have.

Mr Booth – As pulp wood – that is contracted under the long-term pulp wood supply?

Dr Drielsma – Contracted to pulp wood, and that is consistent with what we have been supplying that company and its predecessor for more than 20 years.