A deal to resolve the impasse in Tasmania’s logging industry appears to be unravelling, with 12 of the state’s 15 upper house members uniting against it after more job losses in the industry.
The 12 members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) have taken what they say is the unprecedented step of making public comment together after Malaysian-owned wood processor Ta Ann announced it was shedding 40 jobs.
Ta Ann blamed the job losses on “market attacks” by environmentalists.
The company was joined by the MLCs, Tasmanian Liberal Party senators, forestry industry representatives and business in criticising green groups they call “eco-terrorists”.
Environmentalists visited customers of Ta Ann in Japan in October and recently mounted a cyber campaign to put the case that the company sources its products from high conservation value forests.
The company says sales of its products in Japan have halved.
The MLCs said the Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) on forestry would be blocked if the protests continued, while the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania (FIAT) suspended its participation in the IGA process.
“Unless this eco-terrorism stops overseas, this group of 12 MLCs is putting the governments on notice that we are deadly serious about not entertaining the prospect of locking up more of our forests into reserves (if the IGA requires it),” MLC Paul Harriss said.
Twelve of Tasmania’s 15 MLCs are independent.
They blame the state and federal Labor governments’ reliance on Australian Greens Party votes in parliament for the IGA, which was meant to deliver peace in the bitter dispute over logging.
Legislative Council president Sue Smith said the deal needed to be reworked if it was to pass through the state’s upper house.
“I would think if you asked the people that signed the IGA, most of them are exceptionally disappointed and if they could turn back time they would not sign the IGA today.
“We are halfway down the pathway and all we’re seeing is tragedy.”
FIAT chief executive Terry Edwards said the undermining of the industry by green groups left him with no choice but to pull out of the process.
“The situation we are now confronted with is unprecedented and unparalleled and we believe the eco-terrorism by these extremist groups, has reached the point where the IGA has no further legitimacy,” he said.
The IGA signed last August between the minority federal Labor government and the Labor state government, earmarked 430,000 hectares of forest for protection before an independent verification process that is now underway.
Tasmania’s Minister for Economic Development David O’Byrne called on environmentalists to allow the IGA process to work.
“Environmental group Markets for Change and similar groups must stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution,” he said.
