Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

quite apart from the impact such a decision would have on regional communities and the jobs that are delivered through those industries. When I here these sorts of comments from the Greens, it's a little like the argument that we should be shutting down all coal and gas tomorrow as well, ignoring the fact that it would bring the electricity network to a halt and people's lights would go out. Similarly, if we were to end native forestry today in the way that you suggest, we wouldn't be able to meet our timber, paper and other wood product needs. Unfortunately for the Greens, some of us choose to live in the real world, where we need to be making decisions about what will actually happen in the world. We as a government support responsible, sustainable forestry. Minister Plibersek flagged an intention to look at how this practice is conducted, in consultation with stakeholders, but we need to be real.