Ms ROSOL question to PREMIER, Mr ROCKLIFF
This morning I am tabling a petition from almost 900 people in north-east Tasmania calling for permanent protection of state forests currently zoned as Future Potential Production Forest (FPPF). They love their local forests, which have threatened plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth. These forests were all independently assessed in 2012 as having high conservation value and were intended for protection under the Tasmanian Forest Agreement.
Your recent announcement to abandon your government’s policy to log parts of the 356,000 hectares of FPPF forests were extremely welcome and widely supported.
In addition, Tasmania’s State of the Environment Report made the clear recommendation that forested habitat needs to be put into permanent reserve to protect the threatened and endangered species they contain. Will you look to permanently protect all FPPFs into formal reserves and national parks?
ANSWER
Honourable Speaker, I thank the honourable member for her question. You mentioned the north‑east and it’s fantastic to see the coexistence, if you like, of forestry, agriculture, and tourism. Derby is a great example of industries that coexist for the benefit of the whole community. I will take great interest in the petition and the exact wording of the petition; reminding the people that have signed that petition that it’s a very important part of democracy. Your question is not our policy, but I will look at the petition and see how that is worded. I look forward to that. Thank you very much for that.
Our government is working together with the forestry sector and the thousands of Tasmanians that rely on the forestry sector. It’s a very important part of our industry, and we’re in that continuous improvement space. All our traditional industries, if I can call it that, whether it be forestry and mining and agriculture, all need to work with their natural resources for the benefit of the sustainability of each of those industries.
