Terry Edwards
A KEY forestry industry group will tell the Legislative Council tomorrow to reject a raft of amendments designed to speed up the protection of 385,000 hectares of forest.
This is the first serious split between industry and environment groups since the forestry peace agreement was signed in late November.
The changes proposed by the state government would grant swathes of forests immediate protection if the legislation passed the upper house rather than waiting for a separate set of regulations to be considered by Parliament.
Forest Industries Association of Tasmania chief executive Terry Edwards said a briefing from the state government on Friday had failed to allay his concerns about the impact of the proposed amendments on durability.
He will give evidence at the Legislative Council's investigation into the Tasmanian Forests Agreement Bill 2012 tomorrow.
``I will be explaining to them why I believe it does exactly what we feared it would do - it undermines the whole architecture of the agreement,'' Mr Edwards said.
The government and environment groups are anxious to make up for the delay in protection caused by the upper house inquiry.
Mr Edwards said the government's idea bypassed a key durability requirement - a report written by the signatories assessing progress since the agreement was signed in November.
``We think it's pretty important for the sake of the public interest as well as cultivating confidence in the agreement that the durability is tested,'' Mr Edwards said.
While signatories could still prepare a report to be considered before the Legislative Council votes on the legislation in March, Mr Edwards said it would not have the statutory power it would have under the original legislation.
Last week Deputy Premier Bryan Green played down the changes.
A government spokesman said yesterday: ``The new amendments don't change the integrity of the legislation. However, we'll work with Legislative Councillors to overcome any concerns they may have.''
