Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Environment and Biodiversity spokesperson
Reports of illegal woodhooking of live trees on Westbury Reserve are extremely concerning.
This is a precious place with values that were legally required to have been protected long ago. Environment Minister Roger Jaensch should enforce Westbury Reserve protections while all formal environmental assessments take place.
The reports from local residents about illegal woodhookers raise many questions.
Why did those vandals head directly to the proposed prison site, a part of the reserve that is hard to access and challenging to traverse?
Why did they claim Forestry Tasmania officials had directed them to ‘follow the pink tape’ and take trees in that area because they ‘would be logged anyway’?
The Gutwein Government claim they don’t know anything about this, but does that include GBEs? Resources Minister Guy Barnett must rule out any involvement from Forestry Tasmania today.
This northern prison project has been mishandled from the start. We know, from information released under Freedom of Information, the Federal Environment Department is concerned about the State Liberals’ failure to protect Westbury Reserve.
This ‘nod and a wink’ scenario to woodhookers must be ruled out, and Westbury Reserve must be protected.