Cassy O’Connor MP | Greens' Leader
On the same day the Hodgman Government released its so-called Climate Action plan, they are threatening to take Tasmania to the polls over their divisive plan to log carbon-rich forests.
The irony of that won’t be lost on anyone who believes in action on climate.
In the report into the review of the Climate Change (State Action) Act, consultants acknowledge Tasmania’s emissions profile will be affected by political decisions that are made in relation to forestry and future logging.
As a result of the global market's move away from native forest woodchips and the increased forest protection in recent years, Tasmania's forest estate is a net carbon sink. It is a carbon bank of significant value to the planet and the climate.
The Liberals, in their politically-driven restarting of Tasmania’s forest conflict, refer to Tasmania’s High Conservation Value forests as “wood banks”. These tracts of forest are a unique opportunity to keep our emissions down, and sequester carbon in a time of accelerating climate change.
The Liberals’ bill doesn’t have the support of industry, the environment movement or the community.
Sending Tasmanians to the polls on the basis of their flawed, unjustified and highly-political piece of forestry legislation will create community division and it lets down Tasmanians, who want their representatives to tackle the State’s big challenges, the biggest of which is climate change.