The Greens’ move to push the Liberal Government to release information about which high conservation value reserve forests are on the chopping block was voted down in Parliament today by the Liberals and Labor.
There are 39,000 hectares of biodiverse reserve forests the Liberals plan to log and burn, and they won’t tell Tasmanians where those forests are. Communities deserve to know the government’s plans before they come to parliament to be debated.
These forests have been independently assessed as being of high conservation value, and most adjoin conservation areas and national parks. They are wildlife corridors, and habitat for many threatened species.
With the Labor Party’s backing, Minister Eric Abetz is able to hide his logging plans for these critical, carbon-bank forests.
Most Tasmanians won’t be shocked by Eric Abetz’s climate denial, but many will feel betrayed by Labor lining up alongside the Liberals to block our move to reveal which reserve forests are set to be logged.
So much for the Labor Party’s commitment to transparency and holding the government to account.
