Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s declaration that too many of the country’s forests are “locked up” has met a furious response from the Tasmanian state government and environmentalists. Sources: The Australian, ABC News
“We have quite enough national parks. We have quite enough locked up forests already. In fact, in an important respect, we have too much locked up forest,” Abbott told forestry industry representatives in Canberra.
“We don’t support, as a government and as a Coalition, further lockups of our forests. We just don’t support it.”
“Getting that 74,000 hectares out of World Heritage Listing, it’s still going to leave half of Tasmania protected forever, but that will be an important sign to you, to Tasmanians, to the world, that we support the timber industry.”
He announced a new advisory council for the industry, which follows a government decision to push for a wind-back of Tasmania’s World Heritage area.
Abbott’s government has asked the UN World Heritage Committee to delist 74,000 of the 170,000 hectares proposed for protection under Tasmania’s forest peace deal. He also vowed to set up a new advisory council to support the timber industry.
The state’s Labor government, which faces the polls in 10 days, said the federal government is putting at risk a peace deal between the industry and environmentalists that took three years to negotiate.
“The Liberals are suggesting by repealing World Heritage and high conservation forests that that will somehow save the industry,” deputy premier and forestry minister Bryan Green said in a statement.
“That’s rubbish because what chance would Tasmanian timber from those areas ever have of being sold anywhere around the world?”
The World Heritage areas were part of the peace deal, with green groups vowing to end protests against Tasmanian timber products in return. Wilderness Society spokesperson Vica Bayley, whose organisation is a signatory to the agreement, said the federal government should get behind the deal.
“Axing the new World Heritage area won’t benefit anyone. It won’t protect jobs – these rely on the Tasmanian Forest Agreement, it will embarrass Australia and will reignite conflict in the forests.”
Labor agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon said Tony Abbott should have focused his speech on the pulp mill proposal, which offers “thousands of new jobs in manufacturing jobs”.
“Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has already flagged logging in national parks and Tony Abbott is giving a green light for other states to follow.”
Australia’s timber industry contributes over $22 billion of economic turn over each year and employs over 66,000 people, but it often meets resistance from conservationists determined to protect native forests in national parks and reserves.
The move to delist the forest is expected to be considered by the UNECSO World Heritage Committee when they meet in Qatar in June. But the peak body representing the forest, wood and paper products industries welcomed Abbott’s comments.
“It is about time that the industry got the recognition it deserves for the vital part it can play in the growing Australian economy as we move to a carbon constrained future and the credit for the 200 000 regional jobs sustaining dozens of regional communities across Australia,” said Australian Forest Products Association chief executive Ross Hampton in a statement.
Tasmania’s Liberal opposition, riding high in opinion polls, has vowed to rip up the agreement if it wins the March 15 election.
Federal Greens leader Christine Milne said preserving forests would create more jobs than cutting them down.
