2016-09-12
The Government’s response to the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement is an endorsement of the industry’s unsustainability and unviability, the Greens say.
“This weasel-worded response completely ignores the fact that native forest logging is an industry stuck in the 19th and 20th Centuries at the behest of vested interests,” said Senator Janet Rice, forest spokesperson for the Australian Greens.
“The response does nothing to bring the industry into this century by completing the transition to the economically sensible path of 100% plantation-based wood products.
“Our native forests are worth much more for new economy industries like tourism, for the iconic birds and animals that rely on them, and for the clean air and water they produce.
“And when we need to be taking urgent action to reduce the effects of global warming, native forests are a vital tool to store carbon.”
“The government's willingness to roll over these destructive management practices until the late 2030s is an appalling direction, not just for Tasmania, but for native forests across Australia.”
“We must not simply roll over this outdated destructive mismanagement of our forests,” concluded Senator Rice.
Greens Senator for Tasmania Nick McKim said: “The Tasmanian RFA is a sham to lock in the destruction of native forests; bureaucratic camouflage for an economically and environmentally unviable industry.”
“The Liberals’ view that everything is fine and that there’s nothing to see here resembles propaganda from the Flat Earth Society long after the world had been circumnavigated.”
“A rolling series of Tasmanian RFAs have failed threatened species like the swift parrot, and in fact have been culpable in that beautiful little bird continuing to slide towards extinction.”