Mr Howard presented his long anticipated forestry policy in Launceston yesterday during a brief visit to Tasmania, which included discussions with union and timber industry representatives over his plan.
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He promised to protect timber workers' jobs and work within the Regional Forest Agreement to achieve his desired environmental outcome.
Not one timber industry job would be lost under his "good compromise" plan, he said.
The industry supported Mr Howard's proposal because much of the new areas ear- marked for protection are not currently being logged.
However, environmentalists condemned the announcement, saying the Prime Minister's plan was "fundamentally flawed" because it failed to end land clearing in Tasmania.
More than 3000 industry supporters gathered in Launceston's City Park from lunch-time yesterday waiting news of the Howard plan.
They expressed their outrage at Mr Latham's forestry plan, but cheered the Prime Minister when he arrived to speak to those crammed into Albert Hall.
"My Government does not intend to have any further inquiries into this issue," he said to loud applause.
"There has to be a solution that is both environmentally friendly ... and it doesn't ask a small number of Australians to carry the burden of what the great majority of Australians want."
On Monday Opposition Leader Mark Latham announced Labor's plan to scientifically assess 240,000ha of old- growth forest with the view to protecting them from logging. Mr Latham also committed $800 million to an industry restructure fund.
Yesterday Mr Howard promised only $50 million over four years as his total Sustainable Future For Tasmania package, which included $20 million for what he termed "industry revitalisation".
Mr Howard said he hoped to work with the State Labor Government to define the boundaries of the newly protected areas.
But he named sections of the Tarkine, southern forests, Styx Valley, Eastern Tiers and Tasman Peninsula to be added to the reserve system.
He acknowledged that about 20 per cent of old-growth forest in the Tarkine would still be logged under the Coalition plan.
However, Premier Paul Lennon said nothing short of the full support for the RFA would be acceptable to his Government.
"This debate is about preference votes in marginal seats, it is not about good policy," he said.
The Wilderness Society State coordinator Geoff Law said that Mr Howard had failed to deliver a good environmental outcome for Tasmania.
"The march of sterile forests will continue around Tasmania because under this plan there is no protection of wild forests, no end to land clearing and no protection of biodiversity," Mr Law said.
"The giants will continue to fall."
Forestry union national assistant secretary Michael O'Connor said that Mr Howard's plan was preferable to that of Mr Latham, but he did not go so far as to encourage people to vote Liberal on Saturday.