Green groups have again demonstrated they will say absolutely anything to shut down the native forestry industry in Australia.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) this week fabricated claims that a West Australian forestry company harvests old growth forests in an unprecedented attempt to have them stripped of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) controlled wood certification.
“This is a complete fabrication as old growth harvesting in WA ended more than ten years ago when the state government implemented the ‘Protecting Our Old-growth Forests Policy’,” Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Senator Richard Colbeck, said.
“Green groups do not have veto over the granting of FSC certification – it is based on the assessment of independent third party organisations. The granting of controlled wood certification recognises the WA forestry business for protecting high conservation values.”
“FSC certification is a rigorous process that was initially designed for native forest certification and is used to certify native forest operations around the world.”
“Like other certification systems such as PEFC, it gives recognition to organisations that support responsible forest management. It gives customers confidence they are supporting a sustainable forestry operation and good management practices.”
Senator Colbeck said ACF’s threat to withdraw their support for FSC reveals their true objective of destroying the Australian native forestry industry.
“ACF and many other anti-industry activists continue to mislead Australian’s about the truth of certification,” he said.
“It appears that green groups just want to lock up our renewable resources and throw away the key. They don’t care about sustainable management practices or our communities that rely on these resources for their livelihoods.”
“ACF also used false claims to attack Australia Paper – another example they are intent saying anything to try and destroy the reputation of our forestry industry.”
Senator Colbeck said timber is internationally recognised as a sustainable building material that provides a win-win situation for the environment, for the industry and for our communities. He called on ACF to cease its unfounded attack on the industry.
“Timber is the building material of the twenty-first century and has proven environmental benefits. For example a study by Yale University found that using wood products for construction consumes less energy than steel or concrete and could save between 14% and 31% of global CO2 emissions,” he said.
“The Coalition is committed to revitalising Australia’s forestry industry and providing a sustainable long-term future.”
SENATOR THE HON RICHARD COLBECK Senator for Tasmania Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture
