Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The re-signing of the Regional Forest Agreements between the Commonwealth government and the Tasmanian government marks a very sad day in environmental legislation and environment protection in Australia. Twenty years ago, when the Regional Forest Agreements were first negotiated, they were set up to, in theory, do two things: to protect the timber industry and jobs in the timber industry and to protect our forest environments. They have failed on both—failed absolutely, failed unequivocally to do both. In the 20 years since the Regional Forest Agreements were first declared, we have seen employment in the native forest timber industry decline exponentially. We have seen an increase in employment and the importance of the plantation industry for producing wood products for Australia. That is the direction that the timber industry has headed in those 20 years. That is the direction that has the potential to be ecologically sustainable. Yet this incredibly destructive, last-century industry has got hold of the government and is still driving the destruction of our native forests.

The Regional Forest Agreements, or the logging laws, that have just been signed off between the Tasmanian and the federal government are going to mean ongoing destruction, ongoing disaster, for the forests in Tasmania. They are also heralding ongoing destruction, ongoing disaster, for our forests and everything that our forests support across the country, because the government has been very clear that this is what they intend to do, and not just to forests in Tasmania. They also intend to rollover these logging laws in Victoria, in New South Wales and in Western Australia. We have seen the consequences—what these logging laws have meant over the last 20 years. They have meant ongoing destructive clear-felling. They have meant the destruction of magnificent forests which have such potential and are such a wonderful asset for recreation and tourism. They have seen the destruction of our forests, which are so important for our water supplies and as carbon stores. The most carbon-dense forests in the world are still being destroyed. Critically, they have seen the destruction of habitat for an amazing array of threatened species. The ongoing industrial-scale clear-felling logging of these forests is sending those animals to the brink of extinction. In Tasmania, we have swift parrots, Tasmanian devils and the giant fresh water crayfish, for all of which the prime threatening process is clear-fell logging, yet these logging laws that have just been rolled over are continuing those threatening processes.

Why? Because these logging laws say that the protections of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act don't apply. These logging laws exempt logging operations from our environment protections. All that they do is declare for themselves that the forest operations that are occurring there are ecologically sustainable. In fact, in this legislation they say in regard to the protection of the environment and heritage values that they agree that the reserve system and the application of the forest management system protects environment and heritage values—full stop; no argument—whereas for every other threatening process for our threatened species you have to show that our species are being protected. But, no, the timber industry has this special pass to continue to destroy some of the most precious forests in the country.

The community doesn't accept this. When the community sees what goes on in our forests, when they see the destructive clear-fell logging, they say, 'I thought that ended years ago, I didn't know that's occurring.' They want to see it protected. That's why, in response to the government's plans to be rolling over these logging laws, I will be introducing a private senator's bill this coming Thursday, very notably on Threatened Species Day. I will be introducing a private senator's bill to scrap these logging laws, because that's what needs to happen to them. They need to be put in the bin. They are last century. We need to move forward for the sustainable management of our forests for us all.