The state-owned and sponsored logging entity Forestry Tasmania has long proven it can’t turn a profit, now RTI documents reveal it’s also not capable of acting within the law.
Documents obtained by the ABC reveal Forestry Tasmania’s representatives have failed to communicate correctly and legally with protesters, with dozens of cases thrown out of court.
The science is clear – our beautiful forests are worth far more standing – intrinsically, socially and economically.
These documents do beg the question – how much have Forestry Tasmania’s bungled court cases cost the Tasmanian taxpayer in wasted resources?
In a climate and biodiversity crisis, this island’s forests are the most effective way to store carbon. In a budget crisis, we shouldn’t be wasting precious public funds on politically-driven prosecutions.
From the Tasmanian highlands, the rainforests of Takayna or the blue gum forests of the Eastern Tiers, Tasmania is a remarkable forested island that desperately needs defenders. So many threatened and endangered species are reliant on them for survival – logging and burning these forests is the real crime.
The dozens of forest defenders arrested, charged and who had their cases thrown out were standing up against the Liberals’ planned destruction of forests in places like the Styx Valley, Wentworth Hills and around Dover.
Tasmanians who defend these forests should be celebrated, not prosecuted.
