Media Release - Wilson Tuckey
Wilson Tuckey - Federal Minister for Forests and Conservation
Media Releases
The Hon Wilson Tuckey MP
Minister for Forestry and Conservation
AFFA01/39TU
22 May 2001
VICTORIAN LABOR GOVERNMENT FAILING TO HONOUR WOOD SUPPLY IN WESTERN REGION
FORESTS — TUCKEY
The Federal Minister for Forestry and Conservation, Wilson Tuckey, has written to his Victorian State counterpart, Sheryl Garbutt, about the urgent need for the Brack’s Government to honour resource supply to saw-millers accessing timber from forests covered by the West Victoria RFA. In particular, I am concerned that areas agreed under the RFA signed by the Prime Minister and Premier Bracks as recently as March 2000 are now been closed to logging by the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE).
This closure appears to be for no other reason then to appease certain radical elements of the anti-logging constituency.
In recent days, the Federal Member for Corangamite, Stewart McArthur, brought to my attention that one sawmiller, ET & EW Murnane, who has licences to supply 20,000 cm of quality hardwood logs annually to 2008, is facing a shortfall this season of 1,000 cm of ash logs, previously resourced from the Otways. I understand that unusually wet weather had impacted on some access to the resource during the autumn, access at present is being denied more by your Government’s failure to confront more radical elements of the anti-logging movement who have occupied harvestable coups in the area.
Given that the West Victoria RFA outcome set aside over 600,000 hectares for conservation (an increase of 44 per cent), I would have thought it appropriate that Minister Garbutt would be endeavouring to meet the commitments the Brack's Government made to that process with respect to areas available for logging.
Every available legal mechanism should be utilised by the Victorian Government to ensure that adequate forest areas are kept open at all times to enable the meeting of agreed licence resource supply contracts.
The present failure to ensure non-interference in legitimate logging activities must not be part of any suggested cutback in resource availability out of the Otways as a result of DNRE's present ongoing review.
Further inquiries: Mr Tuckey's office: Graeme Hallett 0419 688 440
Don't know the meaning of a word? Check the glossary.