Garbutt acknowledged logging elevation of Myrtle Wilt

HANSARD

Title: CODE OF FOREST PRACTICES FOR TIMBER PRODUCTION
House: ASSEMBLY
Members: TEHAN; GARBUTT
Date: 6 December 1996
Page: 1789 -1794
6 December 1996 ASSEMBLY

CODE OF FOREST PRACTICES FOR TIMBER PRODUCTION

Mrs TEHAN (Minister for Conservation and Land Management) -- I move:

That the Instrument of Approval of the Code of Forest Practices for Timber Production, Revision No. 2, November 1996, approved by the Minister for Conservation and Land Management on 15 November 1996, be ratified.

Ms GARBUTT (Bundoora) -- The Code of Forest Practices was ratified by the Victorian Parliament in May 1989 in accordance with the provisions of the Conservation, Forests and Lands Act 1987. A second revision of that code is now before us for ratification. The main purpose of the code is to safeguard the forest environment via the application of a set of environmental care principles. In January 1995 the then Department of Conservation and Natural Resources commissioned the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation to conduct a review of the code. The CSIRO produced a detailed report recommending more than 70 changes to the code, and I will refer to that document. Not all of the changes have been accepted by the government for inclusion in the code. In particular, ……………

There is a history of the code not being applied properly by the relevant authorities on either public or private land. Although I acknowledge that the revised code of practices is an improvement, it is disappointing that it does not pick up the recommendations by the CSIRO, and I therefore move an amendment to the ratification motion as follows:

Continued Hansard Page 1794

I am pleased to see that the revised code states that we must provide protection as listed in the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, but that is not what the minister is currently doing. The minister is simply ignoring the act and has walked away from it. It would be helpful if a little light were shed on the minister's intentions.

It is not much use accepting the code and saying we will abide by the act if the government simply ignores it. At page 23 the revised code deals with the protection of rain forests and talks about buffers being improved. Buffers have been improved from those provided in the existing code and will be increased to a distance of 40 to 60 metres. However, in places where the myrtle wilt virus is present the recommendation is that there should be a buffer of up to 350 metres.

Despite the minister's best efforts at hiding the controversial report on myrtle wilt in Victoria, particularly in the Otway Ranges, and despite the fact that the draft code was doctored and some very damaging conclusions and recommendations were removed, it is clear that we have a major problem in the Otways with the Myrtle wilt virus. I will now put on the public record some of the comments that have been deleted from the original report by the department. The original report of 1994 states:

If sustained over time, such high levels of infection and mortality cannot be sustained by natural regeneration of nothofagus and inevitably result in a severe decline of the rainforest community, as has now been confirmed throughout the Otway Ranges, during this project.

That was simply deleted from the final report and had to be wrung out of the department under FOI procedures. That indicates that we have a major problem that is leading to a decline in our rainforests.

Another section that was deleted states that young regenerating stands of nothofagus will be less susceptible to fungal attack, although young trees damaged by forestry operations are readily infected. That points to the dangers of allowing timber harvesting operations close to areas where there is an infection and demonstrates that the infection can be spread easily. Finally, a whole section of the conclusions was deleted. I cannot read it all because of time constraints. However, it is very relevant when talking about the protection of rainforests to note that the buffers that are needed when they are increased, as they have been in the revised code, go nowhere near the 350 metres recommended in the deleted section of the report. It states:

In view of these considerations --

That is a reference to some research. It is suggested that:

... depending on the experimentally determined rate of spread of the disease in Victoria's secondary nothofagus stands, buffers of 250 to 350 metres width may be required to adequately safeguard primary nothofagus stands ...

Mr McArthur interjected.

Ms GARBUTT -- That was the opinion of scientists. I would believe scientists any day ahead of the honourable member for Monbulk.

Mr McArthur interjected.

Ms GARBUTT -- You are the one who has put up the silly guess.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr A. F. Plowman) -- Order! I ask the honourable member for Bundoora to direct her comments through the Chair.

Ms GARBUTT -- What I have described makes me despair about the government's real intentions and wonder whether we are all wasting our time. The final area of concern is ……………..

House Voted on Garbutt Amendment which was to reject Marie Tehan passage of revised 1996 Code of Forest Practices. The Garbutt motion was;

House divided on omission (members in favour vote no):

Ayes, 47

Andrighetto, Mr
McLellan, Mr
Ashley, Mr
Maclellan, Mr
Burke, Ms
Maughan, Mr
Clark, Mr
Napthine, Dr
Coleman, Mr
Paterson, Mr (Teller)
Cooper, Mr
Perrin, Mr
Dean, Dr
Phillips, Mr
Dixon, Mr
Plowman, Mr A.F.
Doyle, Mr
Reynolds, Mr
Elder, Mr
Richardson, Mr
Elliott, Mrs
Rowe, Mr
Finn, Mr
Ryan, Mr
Henderson, Mrs
Shardey, Mrs
Jasper, Mr
Smith, Mr E.R.
Jenkins, Mr
Spry, Mr
Kennett, Mr
Steggall, Mr
Kilgour, Mr
Stockdale, Mr
Lean, Mr
Tehan, Mrs
Leigh, Mr
Thompson, Mr (Teller)
Lupton, Mr
Traynor, Mr
McArthur, Mr
Treasure, Mr
McCall, Ms
Wade, Mrs
McGill, Mrs
Wells, Mr
McGrath, Mr W.D.
 
Noes, 25

Andrianopoulos, Mr
Kosky, Ms
Baker, Mr
Langdon, Mr
Bracks, Mr
Leighton, Mr
Brumby, Mr
Lim, Mr (Teller)
Cameron, Mr (Teller)
Loney, Mr
Campbell, Ms
Maddigan, Mrs
Carli, Mr
Micallef, Mr
Cole, Mr
Mildenhall, Mr
Cunningham, Mr
Pandazopoulos, Mr
Garbutt, Ms
Seitz, Mr
Gillett, Ms
Thwaites, Mr
Hamilton, Mr
Wilson, Mrs
Hulls, Mr
 
Amendment negatived.

Motion agreed to.

Code of practices ratified.

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