2020-04-02
The Greens have condemned the 10 year extension of damaging logging laws in Victoria signed off by Premier Andrews and Prime Minister Morrison this week.
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens environment and climate spokesperson, Ellen Sandell MP:
“The Premier and the PM have extended these damaging logging laws in Victoria under the cover of COVID-19 and right off the back of the devastating bushfires this past summer, which burnt an unprecedented area of Victoria’s native forests.
“These laws give the logging industry special treatment. They get a free pass from national environment laws - continuing this regime is sending our Victorian plants and animals extinct.
“It is clear from the agreement that it would be very easy for future Labor or Liberal governments to extend logging beyond 2030, despite the Andrews government’s commitment last year to end native forest logging.”
Quotes attributable to Australian Greens spokesperson for forests, Senator Janet Rice:
“These updated Regional Forest Agreements contain a lot of fine-sounding words, but the harsh reality is that they lock in logging for another 10 years, fast-track extinction, and destroy animal habitat, carbon stores and fresh water sources.
“None of the changes, like Major Event Reviews, tighter timelines to assess how bad things are for threatened species, acknowledgement of climate change or consulting with Traditional Owners, have any teeth.
“Even after events like last summer's devastating bushfires in East Gippsland there is no requirement to do a ‘major event review’, let alone commit to scaling back logging to protect areas of unburnt forest.
“This summer’s bushfires fundamentally changed Victoria’s forests, killing hundreds of millions of animals. The state and federal governments are ignoring these alarm bells. Victoria cannot continue on this path of logging destruction.”