Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin – Leader of the Greens) – Honourable Speaker, I rise to speak about the destructive reality of native forest logging in Tasmania. Nothing shows it more grimly than the actions of Ta Ann, a multinational timber and palm oil corporation. I seek leave to table a series of images that I circulated to all members previously and I will discuss these later.
Leave granted.
Ta Ann’s litany of offences against people and the environment is long, too long to capture in this speech, which says a lot. I will share some highlights. Ta Aan is responsible for catastrophic deforestation of Sarawak’s ancient forests for timber profits and palm oil. They’ve decimated the traditional lands of indigenous people, violated their human rights, turned carbon‑storing rainforests into palm plantation monocultures, and are driving the extinction of orangutan and other threatened species. Ta Aan were found guilty in a Malaysian court for an illegal land grab that destroyed native customary rights, including graveyards.
In Tasmania, Ta Ann have continued their business model of looting precious native forests for veneer and plywood to export to China, Japan and elsewhere. It’s well known that Ta Ann launders its illegally cleared timber from Malaysia through the timber it plunders from Tasmania’s forests. They package it as sustainably sourced to greenwash their products and trick customers into thinking there is anything sustainable about their operations on our island.
For decades, Forestry Tasmania has rolled out the red carpet to Ta Ann to log our irreplaceable forests. Despite the company being previously owned by a multibillionaire Malaysian crime family, and still having deep ties with them, Australian taxpayers have handed Ta Ann more than $60 million over the years in subsidies, grants and bailouts. It is a disgrace.
Regarding the images I tabled and have circulated, they were provided to us by the Bob Brown Foundation. I acknowledge Jenny Weber and Colette Harmsen, here today in the Chamber, who are staunch and caring defenders of our wild forests. Thanks to the tireless work of Jenny and Colette and others in the Bob Brown Foundation over many years, the destructive practices, history and human rights abuses perpetrated by Ta Ann, have come to light.
The images I have tabled showed the disturbing reality of Tasmania’s forestry industry. It is a corrupted, shocking and sad reality. It shows 7000 cubic metres of timber taken from our native forests, left to rot in the yards at their Smithton mill over years. These photos are taken from 2023, but they have been there, as we understand it, since at least 2019. These are Tasmania’s precious native forests, home to threatened species like the masked owl. They’re now effectively rubbish and they’re so rotten they’re unusable and unsaleable.
I want to be clear: the Greens do not think it would be better for this veneer to be shipped to international markets. It wouldn’t be. The veneer was once ancient forests, it should be left standing and protected into perpetuity for their incredibly significant natural values, not clear‑felled for export and certainly not left to rot. This is the waste and the reality of Tasmania’s native forest logging industry. All the destruction, the burnt forests of endangered species habitat. The public‑funded subsidies over years have led to piles of rotten timber.
People in this place may try to deny it, but the rest of the world knows the truth. Native forest logging is a dying industry because there is no market for extinction timber. Ta Ann wrote the rotting timber off at a value of $3.2 million due to, ‘Declining demand from Japan and a sharp escalation of freight charges.’ The company has tried to pretend shipping costs and challenges from COVID justify their disgusting waste, but the veneer was in the yard well before COVID started. In truth, there is no longer a commercial market for products that are stolen from ancient native forests. Of course, Ta Ann doesn’t need to worry so much about the commercial markets when they have friends in the Liberal government to bail them out when times are tough.
The Treasurer, Mr Abetz, has a long history with Ta Ann. He went to Malaysia on the taxpayers’ dime as a federal senator to tour Ta Ann’s facilities and try to convince the indigenous Penang people to let Ta Ann log forests on their native lands. Concerningly, Ta Ann appears to have been awarded a contract by the government, and we are seriously concerned and we want to end native forest logging right now.
Time expired.
