The Tasmanian Greens today criticised the Bartlett Government over its latest attempt at granting the forest sector an exemption from the rules and standards that the rest of the community must abide by, following the tabling of the Forestry Amendment Bill 2009 in Parliament this week which will exempt public roads in State Forest from being constructed and maintained to the same standard as all other public roads, and which will also allow Forestry Tasmania to restrict access instantly.
Greens Forests spokesperson Kim Booth MP said Forestry Tasmania and the Labor Government have known that forestry roads are public for many years, but they are now using that fact as an excuse to give Forestry Tasmania the power to instantly restrict access to roads through State Forest.
Mr Booth also said that while the Greens do not support new roading into State Forests, existing forestry roads must be maintained at a safe standard for use by contractors as well as the general public.
“The Bartlett Government is about to make it legal for Forestry Tasmania and Gunns to maintain sub-standard roads through State Forest, roads that would not be allowed anywhere else in the state,” said Mr Booth.
“Once again, safety for forest workers and their rigs is being compromised for the benefit of the woodchips barons, who already laugh all the way to the bank, leaving a trail of wrecked contractors behind them.”
“Rather than exempting Gunns and Forestry Tasmania from accepted safety standards, the Bartlett Government should be moving to protect contractors from harsh and oppressive contracts, through the introduction of proper fair contracts legislation.”
“The Labor Government and Forestry Tasmania have been aware of this issue for many years. They are only bringing it up now as a Trojan horse to sneak through the power to instantly restrict forest access.”
“Giving a rogue entity like Forestry Tasmania the ability to decide the standard that a public road will be built and maintained at, and to determine which members of the public will be allowed to travel on that road, is not only dangerously laughable, it is a conflict of interest designed to benefit the woodchippers at the expense of public safety.”
“Forestry Tasmania is effectively saying that it expects forest contractors to risk their lives and their expensive rigs on sub-standard roads that have not even been assessed for use by High-Productivity Vehicles.”
“This Bill was snuck into Parliament on Tuesday night without any warning from the Bartlett Government, and I think it is patently obvious that they are ashamed of what they are trying to do here.”
“The Bartlett Government must rethink this dangerous move to exempt forest roads from public safety standards while bolstering Forestry Tasmania’s power to exclude the public from public roads in publicly-owned State Forests,” said Mr Booth.
Kim Booth MP Greens Forests Spokesperson
