Dear << >> MLC
I write to encourage you to support
the continuation of the Tasmanian Forest Agreement.
I lived in the Ouse district as a
young child. At that time there were seven saw mills within a short drive of
one-another in the district. Now there are none. There have been no significant
lock-ups of forest in the Ouse district. From 1983 to the early 2000’s the
amount of logging in Tasmania increased exponentially and the amount of
woodchip exports increased exponentially but the mills closed.
While it is convenient to blame the
greenies (as the locals often do) the material reality is that forestry pulped
and burned vast quantities of saw log and special species timbers because it
was just easier to make money from bulk chip exports given negligible
royalties, favourable political treatment, and removal from any form of public
accountability.
At 17 I joined the Wilderness
Society after seeing a cable logging operation at Hellyer. It was 1991. At that
time it was established in the literature that old growth woodchips would be
uncompetitive against planation pulp within 20 years. The (then) Forestry
Commission knew that. Industry chiefs knew that. Academics knew that. As a 17
year old TWS activist I knew that. The Liberal and Labor parties pretended not
to know.
The wilderness movement worked hard
to lock up as much high conservation forest as possible over the next 20 years
before the inevitable industry collapse happened.
Forestry Tasmania and their
industry allies worked hard to undermine any attempts at industry reform,
conservation, or accountability over the next 20 years before the inevitable
industry collapse happened. They didn’t fail to plan – they planned to fail;
but a lot of money got made in the mean-time. Meanwhile the Tasmanian forest
industry has been handed millions of dollars to not log forests that were never
theirs.
Faced with
unsustainable losses the Tasmanian forest industry approached the conservation
movement to make an agreement. An agreement was freely made between the parties
without any external interference. All signatories made significant
compromises. Facing similar circumstances in Canada, conservationists and
industry formed the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement which can serve as a model
for Tasmania. We are not the first.
The agreement
was substantially modified by the Legislative Council. The environmental
signatories agreed to these changes even though this required further
compromise. The conditions of the agreement have been adhered to. While much
has been made of some protests by Still
Threatened Still Wild and the Huon
Environment Centre, these need to be kept in perspective. The activist
community in Tasmania has accepted the agreement. The two organisations above
are so lacking in local support that they had to import protestors from
Victoria who have no background in the Tasmanian scene. While they have made a
nuisance of themselves and drawn some flack this hardly qualifies as
substantial protest activity or market interference. Industry can shrug off these
protests.
If you vote
down the agreement we are back in the trenches. There is no good outcome to
this for Tasmania. If the Liberal party and their MLC colleagues trample their
own tradition of civil freedoms and outlaw protest activity in Tasmania the
campaign will simply move elsewhere. Industry cannot shrug off a concerted
international boycott and divestment campaign. For more on this see my blog
posts here: http://www.findinghomebookspace.blogspot.com.au/2013_05_01_archive.html and here: http://www.findinghomebookspace.blogspot.com.au/2013_04_01_archive.html
This conflict
has been going on for too long. I turn 40 in October and I have been protesting
since I was eleven. Recently I attended a celebration of the extension of the
WHA. I asked Bob Graham when this all began for him and he said “we started the
forest campaign in 1973”. That’s the year I was born. Actually some areas have
been campaigned for since the 1940’s.
The agreement
represents the only viable way forward for resolution of the forest conflict
and long term management of the forest estate. The agreement leaves regrowth
forest, plantation estates, and uncontested old growth forest as the basis of a
future industry. In a rational universe the State would also be vigorously
pursuing industrial hemp as an allied industry.
Ultimately I
would like to live in a State where forest workers can go about their jobs with
dignity and broad community support, and where some of the most amazing forest
and wilderness on the planet gets the protection it deserves.
It is now up to
you to decide whether to be part of the future or condemn us to the past.
Yours sincerely
Erik Peacock
Disclaimer: this blogspot does not support all the content on the www.ForestryTasmania.com website but notes that the images contained therein are an authentic representation of Tasmanian forestry practices.
