Like death and taxes, one of the certainties of life is Labor’s equivocation on native forestry and the many jobs it supports.
Workers need look no further than Western Australia and Victoria where State Labor Governments ended sustainable native forestry to appease their left flanks or our own state where the Labor-Green ‘forest peace deal’ gutted the industry, taking two out of every three jobs.
Most recently, NSW Labor, supported by the Federal Labor Government, has proposed to “reward” states for essentially locking-up public native forests.
“This latest betrayal of timber communities by Labor is as predictable as it is tragic,” said Minister Abetz.
“Labor, in its insatiable thirst for inner-city Green votes, is once again putting workers last, seemingly unwilling to recognise that productive forest estates, including Tasmania’s, provide the opportunity to sequester carbon in long-lived timber products and provide society with low emission construction materials.
“In contrast, our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania’s Future backs in sustainable forestry to keep our economy strong to create the jobs Tasmanians need to ensure that Tasmania remains the best State to live, work and raise a family.
“The Tasmanian Liberal Government recognises the views of world-leading experts, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), that active forest management can contribute towards emissions reduction.
“Labor’s latest Green-tinged thought bubble isn’t backed by science and would lead to Australia importing more timber from overseas, increasing carbon emissions while harming our economy and environment.
“The active management of our native forests improves fire management and pest control, and actually increases opportunities for carbon storage.
“We support emerging carbon markets that encourage landowners to become forest growers, and provide options for our public forest estate while maintaining the growth of our timber industry and on-island processing.
“The question for Tasmanian Labor is how long can the hapless Dean Winter hold out against his left faction controlled party machine.”
