Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Environment spokesperson
The best gift the Gutwein Government could give Tasmania on World Environment Day is a policy reset.
Premier Gutwein walked into the top job, appointed himself the first Liberal Climate Change Minister, and promised action. We need him to step up now, more than ever.
While Tasmania is recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, we are in the midst of a climate emergency and biodiversity crisis. We should be doing everything we can to protect the State’s carbon stores and ecosystems.
The most powerful action the Premier could take is to end native forest logging. That would maintain intact habitat for endangered and rare wildlife, and keep carbon in the ground.
The native forest logging industry consistently fails to be economically sustainable, and the evidence is clear, it’s pushing so many threatened animals towards extinction.
Forestry workers have a diverse range of skills that could be more positively used to rewild degraded landscapes as well as to protect communities and wilderness from increasingly intense and frequent bushfires.
Global leaders are calling for the COVID-19 recovery to pivot the world towards a more sustainable economy that delivers stronger environmental stewardship and long-term prosperity. Tasmania should be taking this opportunity to invest in green jobs that restore the environment.
Now is the time to invest in the environment, protect carbon stores and wilderness, and preserve our precious wildlife. We urge the Premier to take this opportunity to reset.