Impact of possible adverse Commonwealth decision on woodchipping

24/1/95

Environment Minister Kevin Minson said today an adverse decision on woodchipping by the Commonwealth Government would have an immediate impact on more than 30 companies involved in forest harvesting.

Mr Minson said it would also affect up to 25 South-West sawmills.

"In fact the failure of the Federal Labor Government to approve the areas in dispute has already resulted in a contractor being stood down from operating in Western Australian native forests," Mr Minson said.

"It must be remembered that all these companies employ many hundreds of people in small South-West communities."

Mr Minson urged Federal Resources Minister David Beddall to stick to proper decision-making principles when reconsidering woodchip licences.

"All I ask is that the Federal Government confine itself to the facts and not let emotion cloud the issue," Mr Minson said.

"I find two aspects of the current debate particularly galling.

"No-one has checked the truth of the information supplied by the conservation movement to Environment Minister Senator John Faulkner which his office then passed to Mr Beddall.

"The Commonwealth is also allowing the Australian people to be misled over the management of Australian, and particularly Western Australian, native forests.

"Meanwhile thousands of forest and associated timber industry workers' jobs are being threatened while the Government struggles to appease the conservation movement.

"It is clearly not possible to do this without shutting down the nation's timber industry and this is the conservation movement's agenda using the woodchipping debate as its primary weapon."

Mr Minson said it was appalling that the Prime Minister was attempting to reschedule areas to be logged for political purposes when neither he nor the Federal bureaucracy appeared to have an in-depth understanding of forest operations.

"What the Prime Minister needs to realise is that before logging takes place in WA forests, there is extensive planning extending over a period of up to five years on aspects such as dieback management," Mr Minson said.

"It is impossible to reschedule the proposed logging operations in WA forests because I am not prepared to sacrifice soundly planned forest management for short-term political expediency.

"Western Australia has been penalised despite the extensive work done with the Commonwealth to balance forest use."

Mr Minson said that due to the study undertaken by the Department of Conservation and Land Management and the Australian Heritage Commission, now hailed as a model for Australia by Mr Keating's Government, it was impossible to impose any more constraints on logging operations without significantly disrupting industry.

"It is ironic that attempts to get investment in forest residue processing, such as pulp mills and fibreboard manufacture in Australia and the complementary plantation developments which they require, have been effectively destroyed by Labor Party infighting and the Prime Minister's desire to sacrifice anything for votes," Mr Minson said.

"It is ludicrous for the Commonwealth Government to require the owners of plantations to obtain a licence to export woodchips from their own plantations.

"Equally the Commonwealth must stop the charade of requiring annual export licences for native forest residue exports."

Media contact:  Caroline Lacy 321 2222 or 222 9595