The axing of the subsidy was revealed in the last government business enterprise hearing of the day on Forestry Tasmania.

Former Resources Minister Paul Harriss had reassured sawmillers that the subsidy would be in place until the government resolved issues in moving forest product from the South after the closure of the Triabunna sawmill and port.

The hearing discussed a joint venture contract between TasPorts and a private company, announced on Friday, to establish a forestry exports terminal in Hobart and move Southern forest products.

The contract stipulates a review must take place after five years.

This led Opposition Leader Bryan Green to assert that this was only a temporary solution to moving forest products out of the South.

He later said that there were contradictions in two of Friday’s hearings over the role payments from the Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme would play in the export deal with Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding saying the company would not be eligible but Forestry Minister Guy Barnett suggesting that it would.

The reopening of 357,000 hectares of informally reserved forest land to logging from 2018 continued to attract the ire of Greens leader Cassy O’Connor.

Forestry Tasmania chief executive Steve Whiteley said roughly just 50,000 hectares was regrowth forest and therefore available to harvest when the area was assessed five years ago.

A formal process has begun for a 99-lease for Forestry Tasmania to offload its hardwood plantation assets.

Mr Green in the hearing attempted to draw a comparison with this upcoming sale and a deal between Gunns’ company receivers and Forico which saw the former company’s plantations and processing assets sold for $6600 a hectare.

“Would you believe that anything under that amount would result in a poor outcome for Tasmanians?” Mr Green asked Mr Barnett.

Forestry Tasmania chairman Rob de Fegely said it was difficult to compare forest type, age class and distance to market from one plantation sale to any other.