Anne Mather
Critics warned the Prime Minister’s push to unlock parts of the WHA and create a new forestry advisory council would reignite the forestry wars, send jitters through markets and cost jobs.
Deputy Premier Bryan Green and former Forestry Tasmania managing director Bob Gordon, who is running as a Labor candidate in Lyons, said Mr Abbott’s stance would do more harm than good.
“I think any move to remove areas that are already World Heritage runs the severe risk that Tasmania will lose its forest certification,” Mr Gordon said at his campaign launch yesterday.
Mr Gordon said any product harvested from an area that was once WHA would “never be purchased by any customer in the world”.
Mr Green warned Australia would be internationally embarrassed if it repealed a WHA listing.
“The Liberals are suggesting that by repealing world heritage and high conservation forests that that will somehow save the industry. That’s rubbish because what chance would Tasmanian timber from those areas ever have of being sold anywhere around the world?” Mr Green said.
The comments follow Mr Abbott’s speech to a forestry industry dinner in Canberra on Tuesday night, in which he said too much of Tasmania’s forests were “locked up”.
Mr Abbott outlined the Federal Government’s push to revoke the recent addition of 74,000ha into WHA listing.
“We don’t support, as a Government and as a Coalition, further lock-ups of our forests,” Mr Abbott said.
“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.”
Wilderness Society spokesman Vica Bayley said Mr Abbott was courting conflict.
Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Paul Howes, who was in Hobart yesterday, said Labor knew how to protect the environment and jobs.
The Mercury, March 06, 2014
TONY Abbott’s push to scrap parts of the World Heritage Area risks scaring off Tasmania’s world markets, the Labor Party has warned.
Critics warned the Prime Minister’s push to unlock parts of the WHA and create a new forestry advisory council would reignite the forestry wars, send jitters through markets and cost jobs.
Deputy Premier Bryan Green and former Forestry Tasmania managing director Bob Gordon, who is running as a Labor candidate in Lyons, said Mr Abbott’s stance would do more harm than good.
“I think any move to remove areas that are already World Heritage runs the severe risk that Tasmania will lose its forest certification,” Mr Gordon said at his campaign launch yesterday.
Mr Gordon said any product harvested from an area that was once WHA would “never be purchased by any customer in the world”.
Mr Green warned Australia would be internationally embarrassed if it repealed a WHA listing.
“The Liberals are suggesting that by repealing world heritage and high conservation forests that that will somehow save the industry. That’s rubbish because what chance would Tasmanian timber from those areas ever have of being sold anywhere around the world?” Mr Green said.
The comments follow Mr Abbott’s speech to a forestry industry dinner in Canberra on Tuesday night, in which he said too much of Tasmania’s forests were “locked up”.
Mr Abbott outlined the Federal Government’s push to revoke the recent addition of 74,000ha into WHA listing.
“We don’t support, as a Government and as a Coalition, further lock-ups of our forests,” Mr Abbott said.
“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.”
Wilderness Society spokesman Vica Bayley said Mr Abbott was courting conflict.
Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Paul Howes, who was in Hobart yesterday, said Labor knew how to protect the environment and jobs.
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