Louise Morris
Tasmania's forests are increasingly the focus of national and international attention, as the weight of public opinion grows in favour of protecting the remaining high conservation-value forests across the state.
Tasmania is the only Australian state that clear—fells its rainforests. It is the only state where the destruction of forests is accelerating. While woodchipping figures are officially secret, according to Hobart's Mercury the annual amount woodchipped in Tasmania exceeds 5 million tonnes, more than 70% of Australia's total.
Despite this, the current Labor government, led by Premier Paul Lennon, is not prepared to budge an inch to stop the carnage. This is not surprising, considering the incestuous relationship the government has with the timber industry and in particular Gunns Ltd, the largest woodchipper in the Southern Hemisphere.
Lennon, a former minister for forests, has been heavily involved in the forest industry since the early 1990s. He has been a member of the pro-industry Forest Protection Society — now Timber Communities Australia (TCA) the deputy chairperson of the Forest and Forest Industry Council and in 2003 was responsible for the Forest Practices Board.
Then there is John Gay, the CEO of Gunns Ltd, who is the chairperson of the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania. Gay works very closely with Timber Communities Australia and is a regular lunch companion of both Lennon and former premier Jim Bacon. One of the most active lobbyists for the timber industry in Tasmania is Barry Chipman, a former firewood merchant. Now a spokesperson for TCA, Chipman was its convenor when Lennon was actively involved.
Forestry Tasmania has been made exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. Under Section 32 of the FOI act, information that relates to Forestry Tasmania's "performance and exercise of the functions and powers" does not have to be publicly released.
This means that Tasmanians cannot officially find out how much forest is being clear-felled, who the woodchips are being sold to or at what prices. The insidious and underhanded dealings continue; Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Ltd do not have to abide by the Threatened Species Act and the Land Planning Act.
Even this extremely brief, and far from comprehensive, snapshot of the government/forest industry machinations indicates why it is at the federal level of politics that Tasmania's forests have a chance of getting protected.
Federal politicians have also recognised this. Labor leader Mark Latham made a whirlwind visit to Tasmania to press the flesh with timber industry representatives and walk in the forests with Greens leader Bob Brown in March.
The fact that even federal politicians have realised that the Tasmanian forests could be an issue as big as the Franklin Dam or the Jabiluka uranium mine indicates the success of the long-term campaign by Tasmanians, community groups and peak environmental groups who are working towards a state-wide protection agenda.
In the past couple of years, the campaign has been boosted by the support of a variety of celebrities. People such as Olivia Newton-John, Jimmy Barnes, Bryce Courtney, Paul Kelly, David Bridie, Richard Flanagan, John Williamson, Jack Thompson, Peter Cundall and John Butler have visited the forests and stood up for them.
On his visit to the forests, Butler said: "I want to lend my voice in calling on the federal government to call a halt to logging of old-growth forest in Tasmania. This type of attitude and behaviour toward our natural heritage is not on and won't be tolerated. This place should be left alone."
Williamson has also spoken out in favour of protecting Tasmania's forests: "The companies who donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to political parties for the privilege to squander our forests do not do so for the sake of workers. No! They do it to bulge the bank accounts of bankers, company managers, and investors all over the world. So don't give us that hogwash about jobs anymore. The timber workers are just pawns whose numbers have been steadily declining as the profits are rising."
This year's World Environment Day, June 5, looks set to be a landmark in the campaign as every capital city across Australia is holding an event over the weekend of June 5-6. Events range from a rally in Melbourne on June 6, featuring notable people and a carnival atmosphere, live music performance and stalls in Hobart on June 5, mass street theatre in Adelaide on June 5 and a public meeting in Sydney on the same day.
The rallies and public meetings being held across the country are part of the Australia-wide push to keep Tasmania's forests on the federal agenda for the election. This will ensure that both PM John Howard and Latham are painfully aware that they have to create a positive outcome for the future of Tasmania's forests while making sure that there is a healthy and viable timber industry that is not dependent on woodchips.
The Melbourne protest will feature performances from the Cat Empire, Paul Kelly, David Bridie and Kutcha Edwards, as well as stilt walkers, high-wire acts and tap-dancing toads. There will be speeches from Richard Flanagan, Peter Cundall and actor Peter Phelps from Channel Nine's Stingers. The event will begin at midday at the State Library and wind its way through Melbourne's streets ending up at Federation Square.
It is essential that the momentum from the World Environment Day events continues on throughout the election campaign, through lobbying of politicians from marginal electorates, and making sure that the media are made aware that the Tasmanian forest issue is one that the Australian public is passionate about. We must keep the pressure on Gunns Ltd and its friends to end their excessive woodchipping and blatant corruption.
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, June 2, 2004.
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