Another door slams shut on the private forest industry TFGA Media Release The Tasmanian Labor/Green government has shown its true colours by abandoning the private forest industry in the first steps of implementing the Tasmanian Forests Agreement (TFA). The TFA makes provision for the establishment of a Special Council to oversee the delivery of the agreement. The signatories to the deal were to be appointed as members of the Council. However, many groups, including the Legislative Council and the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA), urged the government to broaden the membership of the Special Council. They argued that appointing the peace deal signatories to oversee the delivery of the agreement was akin to putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank. This argument was carried in the final vote, with a provision in the TFA allowing the Minister to nominate an outsider to the Special Council. Under an order gazetted but not publicised, the government has appointed the members of the Special Council. Not only has it done this behind a veil of secrecy, it has failed to extend the membership of the Council beyond the signatory group. Even worse, instead of appointing a representative from the private forest sector, the additional position has been filled with Vica Bayley from The Wilderness Society, yet another representative of the signatory conservation groups. “This is the ultimate sell-out, the final straw” TFGA chief executive Jan Davis said today. “We were ignored for three years as this unelected and unaccountable group sat behind closed doors and divided up the state between them in a secret agreement. “Private forest managers did not get a look in because the TFA was meant to be only about public land. Even the Premier eventually admitted that this was not the case,” Ms Davis said. “We have said all along that you can’t make decisions about public land without impacting on private land and the figures prove this to be correct. Private forest returns have fallen over the last three years from around $400 million p.a. to an estimated $40 million this year. “That’s a significant impact in any terms – hundreds of million dollars wiped off the value of farms and withdrawn from farming families and rural communities,” Ms Davis said. “To add insult to injury, the final wood requirements under the TFA assume large quantities of timber will come from private land. In other words, the TFA targets can’t be met without product from the private forest sector. “Nobody can now argue that private foresters don’t have a legitimate interest in this agreement. We were given the false hope of representation on the Special Council but, surprise surprise, the Wilderness Society scores two seats and the private sector is once again locked outside the room. That means that the forest peace negotiators get to mark their own homework with no independent input or oversight. “You can’t trust this government one inch,” Ms Davis said. “They tell you one thing and then do something completely different. They went to the last election supporting the Regional Forests Agreement but have trashed it. They talk about supporting a forestry industry in Tasmania and then they slam one more door shut.” “If people needed any more evidence which tail is wagging this dog, they now have proof. This government has sold out our industry and sold out the Tasmanian community chasing a minority anti-forestry vote.” Contact Jan Davis 0409 004 228
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:38:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015