The Hodgman government has potentially misled Ta Ann’s Japanese customers over whether Ta Ann’s timber will be sourced from “non-contentious” forest areas, Greens Leader and Forestry spokesperson Kim Booth MP said today.
“During budget Estimate Committee hearings today, Resources Minister Paul Harriss was virtually tying himself in knots trying to explain how his Bill to tear up the TFA, has still kept the 400, 000 hectares of high conservation value forests unavailable for loggers,” Mr Booth said.
“Clearly, Minister Harriss did not want to admit that the Premier has potentially misled customers he visited during his April Japan trip when he reassured them that they would receive wood which will , ‘only be from areas that the Greens and ENGOs have agreed are “non-contentious”’.”
“On behalf of the Greens, I can state that we consider logging of any native forest area previously slated for protection under the TFA Act, which was just ripped up by the Hodgman regime, as extremely contentious.”
“Any opening up of current Conservation Areas and existing Regional Reserves for logging is also extremely contentious.”
“For Mr Hodgman’s undertaking to Ta Ann’s customers to be of any value then it is clear that the Liberals’ ideologically-driven tearing up of the TFA Act was unnecessary, and in fact diametrically opposed, to securing this market as Ta Ann clearly will not be seeking to access any of these forest areas.”
“Otherwise, the only other explanation is that those Japanese customers were misled in April, and they need to be advised urgently that their “non-contentious” timber source has just been ripped up by the Hodgman government and no longer exists,” Mr Booth said.