The Government has been secretly planning to log 39,000 hectares of reserved forests for years, despite millions in taxpayer subsidies given for their protection.
Minister Eric Abetz refused to acknowledge he misled Parliament when he failed to table logging maps, despite it being revealed his government had them as far back as March 2022.
The Greens in Parliament asked Minister Abetz if he would listen to the Central Coast community and its Council and direct Forestry Tasmanian to pause plans to log the Dial Ranges.
I seek your indulgence to make a short contribution which is not in my words; it is in the words of Gracie Kuylaars.Gracie gave a speech at the Forest Rally on the lawns...
The Dial Range is a marvel of the Central Coast with stunning myrtle rainforest, majestic views from several peaks, streams and waterfalls. To log it would be a travesty.
There're some plantations growing in the upper reaches of the Lorinna area that are leased to Reliance Forest Fibre.
Minister, I want to dig into any communications, if there have been any, between you and the Minister for Tourism. It's in relation to a $15 million major commitment to upgrades of three key reserves across the state, including the Dial Range, which is an icon of the north‑west. It is supposed to be about enhancing the visitor experience.
During the election campaign, one or the other of the Liberals election promises to existing Forestry Tasmania customers was that there would be 158,000 cubic metres of saw logs coming to them from Future Potential Production Forest (FPPF) land, the new land that you're intending on going into. How did you arrive at such a precise figure if you haven't actually found the land that you are seeking to convert?
On the question that you've asked many times who does forestry better than Tasmania, I think one obvious answer to that is any one of the more than 1500 jurisdictions in 83 countries that have managed to achieve Forest Stewardship Certification (FSC). Tasmania has not done that. In fact, Forestry Tasmania has twice tried and failed to get FSC. The reason for that has been their continued logging of swift parrot habitat. You can laugh, but that was the evidence that was provided from the certifiers at the last attempt of Forestry Tasmania.
On the 39,000-hectare conversion of high conservation‑value public forests, this was in your 100 day plan, this proud additional destruction of our forests. Can you tell me where the process is up to exactly in the conversion? As you mentioned before, there is a stage process under the Forestry (Rebuilding the Forestry Industry) Act. It has about eight steps to it. Can you please tell the committee where the process is up to there, and can you please provide us with a map or details of the areas that are being investigated?