The Tasmanian Greens today called on Forestry Minister Joe Ludwig to suspend forest contractor exit package payments until a full audit is conducted into the eligibility of the recipients, after complaints from forest contractors continued to roll in regarding the eligibility of some of those who were selected for exit packages.
Greens Forests spokesperson Kim Booth MP said Federal Forestry Minister Joe Ludwig is ultimately responsible for the probity of this process, and must now reveal who actually selected the recipients, what criteria was used to determine eligibility, and whether all contractors who received packages actually held contracts to work in Tasmanian native forests, or indeed had any contract at all.
Mr Booth also rejected allegations being made by Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck (HERE), and called on the Senator to explain his new-found interest in assisting forest contractors given that the Liberal Party voted down a number of calls for a contractor’s buy-out package in the Tasmanian and Federal Parliaments just two years ago, and to also reveal why the Senator appears to not care about due process being followed regarding the allocation of public funds for this buy-out package.
“Forest contractors are continuing to contact my office with allegations of impropriety regarding the allocation of some of these buy-out packages and I am calling on the responsible Minister Joe Ludwig to explain who selected the recipients, what criteria were used to determine eligibility, and whether all those who received packages actually held contracts to work in Tasmanian native forests, or indeed held any contracts at all” said Mr Booth.
“The Liberal Party are all over the place on this issue – they opposed a forest contractor buy-out package in the Tasmanian and Federal Parliaments just two years ago, they have spent the last three years criticising Federal Labor over probity issues related to the insulation scheme and the school halls scheme, and now they want to ignore due process and pretend that they support forest contractors. Is it too much to expect some real consistency from this confused rabble?”
“I have been warning for years about the looming tragedy for our forest contractors, and Minister Ludwig must now ensure that public monies are directed to those contractors and their families who are most in need. These are real people who face financial ruin through no fault of their own due to being misled by the likes of Gunns into investing their life’s work into an unsustainable industry.”
“The Greens are serious and consistent in our support for Tasmania’s forest contractors, and we are calling on Minister Ludwig to conduct a probity audit into the process used to determine eligibility for these buy-out packages, as well as the identity of those who selected the recipients, and to suspend payments until the eligibility of the recipients is confirmed,” said Mr Booth.
Reference:
From: Tasmanian Forest Contractors Exit Assistance Guidelines, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, p2.
Download document: Nov2010_Tas_Forest_Contractors_Exit_Assistance_Guidelines_DAFF.PDF
Libs:
Libs raise doubts over forestry contracts
It has been revealed that Forestry Tasmania would not be able to meet its existing contractual requirements if an extra 600,000 hectares of State forest is locked up.
The revelations are made in a briefing note on the forest peace deal from Forestry Tasmania to the Resources Minister, Bryan Green.
The peace deal was signed last year by forestry groups and environmentalists in an attempt to end decades of conflict in the sector.
The briefing note was obtained by the Opposition under Right to Information laws.
In it, the state-owned company says it is not possible to immediately protect 600,000 hectares of State forest and still meet existing contracts, even if Gunns were to end native forest harvesting.
The Opposition leader, Will Hodgman, says it raises serious questions about the Premier’s promise to extend wood supply contracts until 2027.
He says locking-up such a large area of forest would cost more than 2,200 jobs and only leave 450,000 hectares of production forest in Tasmania.
“Clearly the Government has no idea how to manage an important transition from our forest sector,” he said.
“Now the Government is being told here that if the Greens’ plan to lock up 600,000 hectares of forest goes ahead, it’s not sustainable.
“It’s going to shut down half of our forest industry.”
STENCH OF SECRECY UNDERMINING FOREST CONTRACTOR BUY-OUTS
Millions of Public Dollars Expended by Federal Forest Minister Ludwig, with Zero Transparency
Kim Booth MP
Greens Forest spokesperson
Thursday, 13 January 2011
The Tasmanian Greens today called on Federal Forestry Minister Joe Ludwig to clearly state his reasons for refusing to reveal details of the Forest Contractor Exit Assistance Package, especially the names of those who decided final eligibility for buy-outs as well as the final criteria used to determine those buy-outs, amid claims from forest contractors themselves that the Package has been rorted.
Greens Forests spokesperson Kim Booth MP said over $17 million of taxpayer’s money has been expended on this vitally important program, but the Minister’s decision to hide the identity of those involved in determining the beneficiaries of those public funds raises serious questions about possible rorts being hidden away from the taxpayers who actually funded the package.
Mr Booth also said that contractors are continuing to contact his office alleging that some of those who received payment from the Exit Assistance Package were not working in Tasmanian native forests and did not even hold contracts to work in Tasmania’s forests, despite the Package criteria clearly stating that these two factors were key requirements for eligibility.
“It is a disgrace that Forestry Minister Joe Ludwig has simply decreed that no-one is to know who actually selected the recipients for Exit Assistance payments, as well as the final criteria for eligibility, and the only logical conclusion is that rorting has occurred and is now being covered up,” said Mr Booth.
“Contractors have also expressed alarm that the process may well have been just another closed shop deal run by the old boys club that surrounds the upper echelons of the Tasmanian Forest Contractors Association, and that those not in the club missed out yet again.”
“Millions of dollars of taxpayer’s funds were expended on this program and there is absolutely no reason for hiding anything to do with this process, especially the identities of those who selected the recipients and the final criteria that were used for selection. I am calling on Federal Forestry Minister Joe Ludwig to come clean and to reveal to taxpayers the details behind the expenditure of $17.5 million of their money,” said Mr Booth.
• ABC Online, Friday, Gunns axes pulp mill executive
The Tasmanian timber company Gunns has sacked a senior executive who was running the pulp mill project
A Gunns spokesman has confirmed several people involved with the company’s $2.3 billion pulp mill have been made redundant.
The managers were involved in the assessment process and are no longer required as the company moves into the construction phase.
The pulp mill’s former general manager and a long-time Gunns employee, Les Baker, is one of the executives leaving the company.
Last year Gunns reported Mr Baker’s salary and entitlements totalled $473,000.
Mr Baker has declined to comment.
Gunns is yet to announce a joint venture partner for the pulp mill.
• GUNNS SACKS PULP MILL PROJECT TEAM, INCLUDING LES BAKER
And Continues to Mislead Over Pulp Mill Progress
Kim Booth MP
Greens Forests spokesperson
The Tasmanian Greens today described the sacking of the General Manager of Gunns’ pulp mill project team, and a number of other project team members, as another nail in the coffin for the doomed project.
Greens Forests spokesperson Kim Booth MP said Gunns’ excuse for sacking Mr Les Baker and other project team members, that the mill assessment has ended and the company is now moving into the construction phase, is yet another lie from this serially dishonest company as the proposed mill still does not have a water pipeline, or a joint venture partner, or sufficient finance, or federal government permission to dump 64,000 tonnes of effluent daily into Bass Strait.
Mr Booth also said that Gunns Limited recently pulled out of a assessment process to receive Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for controlled wood sourced from Tasmania, which also indicates that attempts to provide a fully FSC-certified feedstock for the proposed mill are also faltering. [see below]
“The people of the Tamar Valley are sick of Gunns’ lies and deceptions over the proposed mill, and this latest bit of spin from Gunns about the reasons for sacking the manager of the pulp mill project team is yet more proof that the company cannot be trusted, and that the mill proposal is dead in the water,” said Mr Booth.
“The assessment of this mill proposal is far from over and any claim by Gunns to the contrary is just another lie from this serially dishonest company.”
“The fact that Gunns have recently pulled out of an assessment process for FSC certification of controlled wood sourced from Tasmania, and that virtually none of the plantations established after 1994 will qualify for FSC certification means that the writing is on the wall for a mill fed only by FSC-certified feedstock, and this means no joint venture partner, and no mill.”
“Les Baker was a senior executive of Gunns and was previously responsible for far more than just the proposed pulp mill, and his exit from the company is a sign of things to come.”
“The virtual dismemberment of the pulp mill project team in the dead of night is a cost-cutting exercise from a company that is haemorrhaging funds due to excessive debt and a failed business model, and is just another nail in the coffin for this doomed project,” said Mr Booth.
Download: Gunns Limited FSC Pre-Assessment and Controlled Wood Evaluations, Public Briefing Paper, published by Rainforest Alliance: Smartwood Program, January 2011:
Jan14_Gunns_FSC_Evaluation_Briefing_ATTACH_K_Booth_MP.pdf
Gunns denies talk of pulp mill moving interstate
16 Jan, 2011 01:00 AM
GUNNS Ltd has denied claims that it could still move its pulp mill project interstate.
Unnamed sources made the claims on Friday after the Tasmanian timber company retrenched four senior members of its pulp mill team.
A Gunns spokesman said yesterday that those claims were incorrect.
“The company is committed to the Bell Bay location,” he said.
“Any suggestion that the mill location would be moved is just incorrect, wild pub talk.”
The spokesman said Gunns had retrenched four staff, including general manager and executive director Les Baker, because their work on securing necessary approvals for the $2.5 billion project had concluded.
First published: 2011-01-12 08:19 PM
