Questions from the Greens in Budget Estimates have revealed that the Minister for the Environment was unaware of the details for the newly announced Independent Forestry Panel prior to the appointment of a former Forestry CEO. The new panel is set to advise the Government on the timber industry and environmental commitments, despite having no qualified forest scientist appointed.
Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson said "It's a slap in the face to the 70% of NSW that support the end of native forest logging in this state, that the Government has appointed a former CEO of the Forestry Corporation to this panel and no expert in forest ecology,"
"That the Minister for the Environment couldn't confirm that she even knew a former forestry executive was going to be appointed as the chair of this panel is deeply concerning and has given weight to the already low community trust in this process,"
"It's not a criticism of the intelligence or ability of the panel members to question why the protection of native forests is not being represented. Both the Premier and the Minister have defended this decision but have not given any weight to the importance of genuine forest ecology qualifications,"
"We have already seen through the increased logging in the proposed Great Koala National Park that the Government is failing their environment commitments, this latest panel and industry plan is entrenching the political failure of the Minns Labor Government,"
"As long as the position of the Minister for the Environment is that native forest logging should take precedence over environment protection, forest dependent species will continue to be driven towards extinction,"
"If the Minister was not told about a former Forestry Executive being put forward for this panel, I have genuine concerns about how this information has been handled and how the decision on the Panel has been made by the Government. Was it intentional that they have not promoted Peter Duncan's history in native forest logging, or is this just another industry vehicle to allow native forest logging to continue?" Ms Higginson said.
