The national timber industry has vowed to fight conservationists’ moves to replicate the Tasmanian peace deal across NSW and Victoria. The vow came as cracks emerged in the historic agreement.
The National Association of Forest Industries yesterday backed the Tasmanian “principles” deal, which would phase out logging of native forests and ban the burning of native timber wood waste for power generation.
However, as conservation groups in other states called for elements of the deal to apply nationally, the association insisted the industry would fiercely resist such attempts.
“This is a unique agreement to Tasmania — we do not think it is transferable to the mainland,” said association chief executive Allan Hansard.
Mr Hansard said the Tasmanian deal, providing a moratorium on logging of high conservation value forests within 90 days of government acceptance, was the result of local factors not applicable elsewhere.
These included the largest company, Gunns, deciding to give up native forest logging, freeing resources for smaller companies to use while still delivering further conservation gains.
Green groups in other states flagged a campaign to transplant the deal. Prue Acton, of the NSW South East Region Conservation Alliance, said: “We call on the commonwealth government as a matter of urgency to remove all native forest biomass from its list of eligible fuels in its renewable energy target legislation.”
Signatory groups are already differing on how quickly the Tasmanian transition from native forests into plantations can be achieved. Conservation groups will push for this to occur within 12 months, while the Forest Industry Association of Tasmania said it would take up to 30 years.
Both sides clashed over whether it would be appropriate to grant long-term renewals to companies’ wood supply contracts while the year-long talks are under way.
Premier David Bartlett confirmed renewals would be made, but said none would be allowed to jeopardise the final deal. He promised to work with Julia Gillard to ensure the final outcome, follow the next phase of detailed negotiations and create “new and sustainable jobs” in timber towns hit by job losses.
Barry Jarvis, Mayor of Tasmania’s far northeast municipality of Dorset, which takes in timber towns such as Scottsdale, already hit by two major sawmill closures in three years, said he had heard the promises of “new jobs” to replace the old before, and had stopped believing them.
“People move out of town in dribs and drabs as businesses leave,” he said.
“You can’t retrain people from the forest industry to make coffees, and they aren’t interested in going out and being drink waiters,” Mr Jarvis said.
“This is going to happen right around Tasmania once they take away that native forest resource.”
