LLEWELLYN MUST COME CLEAN ABOUT PUBLIC MONEY SPENT ON LOGGING ROADS.
Community conservation group Still Wild Still Threatened is today opposing David Llewellyn’s new Forestry Amendment Bill. The bill was tabled in State Parliament on Tuesday and allows for Forestry Tasmania to close certain roads to pedestrian as well as vehicle traffic.
“This bill will further restrict public access to publicly owned State forest. Closures of roads that were built with public money will facilitate the private profits of Gunns Ltd” spokesperson Ed Hill said.
Still Wild Still Threatened is calling for Minister Llewellyn to come clean about public money that has been used to build roads into old growth forests. Conservationists will gather outside Minister Llewellyn’s office, from 12:30pm today at the Treasury building calling for the Minister to correct misleading statements.
Minister Llewellyn claims Forestry Tasmania’s 7000kms of logging roads have been built with money from timber sales.
“The construction of this road network is funded by Forestry Tasmania through income received from the sale of wood products,” Mr Llewellyn said.
In 2005, through the Community Forest Agreement, the Tasmanian logging industry was given $20 million of tax payer money for road building in State forest.
Documents from a Senate Standing Committee budget estimates hearing show tax payer’s money has been used to log old growth forest in the iconic Weld and Upper Florentine Valley’s. Documents reveal $550,000 of tax payer’s money from the Community Forest Agreement was spent to construct roads in the Weld Valley, directly adjacent to the Tasmania Wilderness World Heritage Area and $47,900 in the Upper Florentine to 2007.
“Minister Llewellyn needs to come clean and tell the public that tax payer’s money is being used to construct logging roads and log old growth forests. $550,000 from the Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement was spent on destructive roads into ancient rainforest in the Weld Valley” said Ed Hill.
“The Community Forest Agreement has failed to protect world heritage value forests, as promised by the Government; instead they have used public money to commit further acts of destruction in old growth forests” said Ed Hill.
“Public money has been used to construct these roads and now the Government is taking further measures to exclude the public from their own forests, just so Gunns Ltd can make an excessive profit” said Mr Hill.
“It’s time the Government listened to community concern over old growth logging and protected native forests rather than exclude the community from them and waste tax payers money on destructive logging operations” said Mr Hill.
Still Wild Still Threatened is a grassroots community organisation campaigning for the immediate protection of Tasmania’s ancient forests and the creation of an equitable and environmentally sustainable forestry industry in Tasmania.
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stillSenate_Standing_Committee_on_Rural_and_
Regional_Affairs_and_Transport.doc
stillbudgetestimates.pdf
www.stillwildstillthreatened.org
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PO Box 295. South Hobart TAS 7004
Still Wild Still Threatened
