Peter Walsh
Landscape planning for native forest harvesting, a guaranteed timber supply, no protesters allowed in coupes, no Great Forest National Park – that was the forestry. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz
Mr Walsh, who is the Opposition spokesman on agriculture and forestry, was addressing the annual dinner of the Victorian Association of Forest Industries in Melbourne.
The Victorian election will be held on Saturday November 24.
“Frustration is the word. I share your frustration with politics and how politics has messed your life,” he told the hundreds who attended the dinner.
Outlining the Coalition’s policy, Mr Walsh said the Opposition believed in landscape-wide management of threatened species.
“For too long we have had threatened species dealt with on a coupe basis,” he said. “There are more of these critters out there that we can ever imagine. The Leadbeater’s possum is a classic example. Once you survey outside logging coupes, there are heaps of them.”
There were also “heaps” of other animals such as long-footed potoroos or gliders. “They only look in logging coupes – that has a major impact on your industry.”
Look further, “then you will find they are not as threatened as you think”.
“They have strong survival instincts”, he said, having lived for thousands of years.
Mr Walsh said if any forest was taken out for ecology reasons, there must be like-for-like return.
“Rather than lose more and more coupes – make available the same (tree) species, the same volume, the same quality,” he said.
Mr Walsh said there was an ample amount of timber available.
“It is policy decisions that are limiting you, policy decision that have locked up that timber, but it is available. If we have the opportunity to form a government, those policy decisions will be made and that timber will be made available,” he said.
Mr Walsh said there would be strict enforcement of buffer zones around logging coupes. No protesters would be allowed in there.
“Protesters that go into workplaces and logging coupes have no rights at all. They can be taken away and not put people at risk who work in the coupes,” he said.
Mr Walsh reiterated the Coalition’s past position – there would be no Great Forest National Park.
“That is a categoric guarantee. It is absolutely illogical – trees can be used in the future. To lock up that resource, not just for timber and other uses, does not make sense,” he said.
“Recent announcements around VEAC (Victorian Environment Assessment Council in the West – we are also opposed to those.”
The Great Forest National Park, pushed by Green groups, would stretch east of Melbourne to north of the Latrobe Valley.
VEAC’s draft report proposes new reserves for the Wombat forest (near Daylesford), Wellsford (near Bendigo), Mount Cole and Pyrenees Range forests (near Beaufort and Avoca) and dozens of smaller public parcels in the investigation area.
Questioned, Mr Walsh said it was difficult to make all the Coalition’s policy pledges happen.
“In opposition, you raise challenges to government. In government, the greatest challenge is to get your department to do what you want to do. Sometimes they are very good,” he said.
Much action did not require legislation – it could be done through executive order, regulation or Ministerial direction.
“That makes life a lot easer than having to go to Parliament. Landscape planning, threatened timber release plans – all can be done by executive government,” he said.
Mr Walsh said to ensure that common practices and policies were in place, it was important to get the community to understand “what a great industry you have”.
This included “what you do to manage the environment, and its eco importance”. “It’s too easy for those who demonise the industry. You need a lot of will and backbone to take on the forces opposed to you. I learnt in our last time in government, and I’m determined to get it done,” he said.
