Forestry Tasmania is among a suite of GBEs the Liberals are looking to privatise. The Rockliff Government needs to come clean about any plans to sell off the globally-significant native forests they hold in trust for all Tasmanians, now and for the future.
Forestry Tasmania is a mendicant “business” that only survives through ongoing government subsidies. Unlike other loss-making GBEs like Metro that have public benefit, there is no public good in Forestry Tasmania destroying biodiverse, carbon bank native forests.
No private entity would buy Forestry Tasmania without a huge financial incentive – such as the forest estate they manage. The Liberals have already committed to selling Crown lands as well as GBEs.
Forestry Tasmania manages 812,000 hectares of lutruwita Tasmania’s public forests. This area comprises biodiverse and carbon rich native forests, as well as important plantation stores.
We’re in a global climate and biodiversity crisis, and governments should be doing everything in their power to act.
In lutruwita/Tasmania, any GBE reform of Forestry Tasmania should see an end to native forest logging and forestry workers supported into new jobs in a sustainable industry that protects our globally unique biodiversity and significant carbon stores.
The Liberals must rule out selling off the state’s forests in order to offload the ever-mendicant Forestry Tasmania.
