In news that surprises no-one, a coalition of formerly 'moderate' green groups have renounced their apparent prior support for native forestry and will now side with the radical Bob Brown Foundation.
Under the Labor-Green Tasmanian Forest Agreement, signatories such as the Wilderness Society and Australian Conservation Foundation agreed to "an ongoing, vibrant forestry industry in Tasmania based on native forests".
It is a matter for the public record that this Agreement is still on the Wilderness Society's website, as signed by the current Deputy Leader of the Greens.*
Despite this, Tasmanians would be hard-pressed to find statements, recent or otherwise, from either party backing sustainable native forestry.
Minister for Business, Industry and Resources, Eric Abetz, said reports of cynical about-face by Green activist groups should surprise no-one.
"Time and again, support has been pledged by Green activists for this industry or that, only to later be withdrawn for any number of reasons," Minister Abetz said.
"This latest move from green radicals comes just in time for an impending Federal election where there is a very real risk of a Labor-Green minority Government again being formed in Canberra.
"Recent attempts by the Greens to force Federal Labor to drop the existing accreditation for Regional Forest Agreements in exchange for their support of Labor legislation in the Senate should send a chill down the spine of all forestry workers.
"It is clear that the Federal Labor Government is pandering to the Greens in a bid to win inner-city seats on the mainland. It's time for State Labor to stand up and lobby Federal Labor to drop the appeasement and stand by timber workers.
"In contrast to Labor Governments around the country which have repeatedly betrayed timber communities, our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania's Future supports forestry and its 5,700 direct and indirect jobs.
"We make no apologies for backing the State's sustainable and job-rich timber industry.
"The native forestry industry in Tasmania supports more than 1,000 jobs across the State and generates hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity."
*https://www.wilderness.org.au/images/resources/Tasmanian-Forest-Agreement-2012.pdf
