A Forestry Tasmania proposal to reduce the legislated sawlog supply would result in an unacceptable 25 per cent reduction in forestry jobs, Resources Minister Guy Barnett told the Australian Forest Growers National Conference on Sunday night.
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Earlier this month Mr Barnett told parliament that Forestry Tasmania had expressed concern about the sustainability of its yield from public production forests.
“This advice makes it very clear that the production levels stemming from the Tasmanian Forest Agreement cannot be delivered in a commercially sustainable way,” he said. “The board has advised that over one quarter of the trees harvested are costing Forestry Tasmania, and by implication Tasmanian taxpayers, money.”
Mr Barnett said one option proposed to address the shortfall was to reduce the legislated supply of sawlog, from July 1, 2017.
“[This] would mean a serious reduction in the state’s firefighting capacity as a result of the further loss of skilled forest workers and their associated heavy equipment,” he said. “It would also mean cost increases in other areas of government and, of course, it would mean job losses. Around 700 direct and indirect jobs, based on 2014-15 figures, and another round of devastation inflicted upon regional communities still recovering from the disastrous effects of the forest deal.”
Previously Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said the state government’s decision to consider harvesting 400,000 hectares of native forest ahead of schedule would jeopardise FT’s application for Forestry Stewardship Council approval.
Also scheduled for discussion in parliament during the next two weeks is debate on amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Act, legislative reforms to Tasmanian superannuation, reforms for the property transactions and real estate industry, and debate on amendments to the Mental Health Act.
Oppostion spokeswoman Michelle O’Byrne said the state government is yet to explain why parliament must still discuss amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Act “in the clear absence of a plebiscite and in clear disregard of the bulk of the submissions that were made around the act.”
Bass MHA Michael Ferguson said the state government still planned to push ahead.
“Tasmania is the only state in the country where it is against the law to have free speech in case somebody becomes offended,” he said.