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

I rise tonight to speak on protecting our forests, particularly forests that are part of the lands of the Wurundjeri, the Taungurong, the Gunai Kurnai and the Bidwell peoples. I acknowledge the traditional owners of these lands and their elders past, present and emerging. I acknowledge that these are stolen lands and that there has been no consent to the logging and destruction of these forests of this First Nations forest heritage. And I pledge to work alongside First Nations people until we have achieved justice for them and for country.

Last month, the Federal Court handed down a landmark legal decision. It found that VicForests, the Victorian government logging agency, had broken the law in its logging of, and plans to log, 66 different areas of forest. The court found that the state and federal government were failing to protect two threatened animals: the tiny Leadbeater's possum, of which there are only around 2,000 left in the world, and the greater glider. The court found that logging was killing these animals and helping to send them closer and closer to extinction. I applaud and congratulate Friends of Leadbeater's Possum, who brought the legal case, their amazing legal team at Environment Justice Australia and the thousands of people who helped fund the case.

Leadbeater's possums, called 'wallert' in the Taungurong language, can fit in the palm of your hand. They're very fussy about where they nest. They need hollows that are only found in mountain ash trees that are over a hundred years old. They are critically endangered, which means they are facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future.

Greater gliders can fly from tree to tree. They are the largest of the gliding possums, with big teddy bear ears and a long fluffy tail. Being vulnerable means that they are facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future. It's estimated that almost a quarter of the greater gliders in Victoria were killed in last summer's fires. You would think that this would have been enough for governments to realise that the logging of the forest where these animals live should stop. You would think that, when the Federal Court says that the logging has been illegal, state and federal governments would realise that, as with whaling, the game is up. You would think they'd realise that it's time to scrap our logging laws—the regional forest agreements—and strengthen our environment protection laws to protect our wildlife. You would think they'd realise that it's time for our forests to be left in peace to grow old, to be protected for their wildlife, their water, their carbon, their value for tourism and recreation, their beauty and their ability to inspire and soothe and rejuvenate the human spirit. You would think they'd realise that it's time for the wood products industry to complete the shift to being 100 per cent based on plantations, up from the current 88 per cent—but no.

Last week I put a motion to the Senate calling upon the government to accept the Federal Court decision that the logging was illegal and to take immediate urgent action to ensure Australia's native forests are protected. The government and Labor voted against the motion. The Labor Party said that they support the benefits that flow from sustainable management of our native forests and support regional forest agreements—that is, they support ongoing logging, ongoing forest destruction and the ongoing deaths of endangered animals. I've been campaigning for the protection of our forests for over 30 years and I am angry.

So what do we do? The other senators in this place are not listening. We need to make them listen. I applaud the brave protesters who stopped the logging in forests across Victoria last week. I applaud forest campaigners across the country who have been inspired by the Federal Court decision and are now working on legal actions in their own states, and I call upon anyone listening to join these campaigns. You might like to learn more and share what you've learnt. You might like to donate to cover legal costs, to take time to visit these wonderful forests or to join actions on the ground. I call on you to help make our democracy work for us and for our forests, and to elect more people to this place who will vote for forest protection. People in the seat of Eden-Monaro have a chance to do that by voting for the Greens candidate Cathy Griff in the by-election that will be held next month. Above all, I urge you to not give up hope. Keep campaigning and keep fighting for our forests. Eventually, together, we will win.