Logging Tasmania: Validating bill may affect TCF, Blue Derby court cases
The state government will introduce a bill as early as today seeking to fix the alleged illegality of logging operations in Tasmania, a move which may affect two ongoing court cases.
Tasmania
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The state government will today introduce a bill to parliament seeking to retrospectively validate logging approvals after it was revealed last month regulatory deficiencies in the Forest Practices Act 1985 may have led to 35 years of illegal logging.
In a letter sent to MPs on Monday, seen by The Mercury, State Development Minister Guy Barnett said the state government would be introducing the Forest Practices Amendment (Validation) Bill 2022 upon today’s resumption of parliament.
The Bill seeks to resolve what can be described as a highly technical administrative matter,” Mr Barnett said.
“To be clear, the issue at hand is related to the construction and form of instruments of delegation, not the safety or appropriateness of forestry operations undertaken on-ground.
“Rather than have the instruments called into question solely due to the manner in which they have been administratively constructed, the Bill has been drafted in a way that seeks to remove doubt as to the validity of instruments issued pursuant to section 43 of the Act.
“I should also note that the particular instruments have been issued since the commencement of the Act in 1987, under governments of all sides.
“It is essential to both historical and ongoing forestry operations that such a matter is dealt with in a timely manner.
“Our forest practices system has been in operation since 1985 and it applies equally to native forests and plantations, on both public and private land.”
The move will have possible ramifications for two anti-logging cases currently before the Supreme Court, both of which cite the lack of appropriate delegation as one of the planks of their arguments.
Green group Blue Derby Wild is currently seeking an injunction against Sustainable Timber Tasmania logging in two coupes adjoining the famed Blue Derby mountain bike trails, with the matter set for trial next Monday.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated matter, the Tasmanian Conservation Trust is challenging state Lyons MP John Tucker’s permission to clear more than 1800ha of native forest on his property near Ansons Bay.
Among the grounds being raised, the ongoing case challenges the validity of the Forest Practices Authority’s delegation to forest practices officers.
In a statement, environmentalist Bob Brown, a former Tasmanian Greens senator, said the validating act would “lead to bigger peaceful defence efforts by environmental protectors”.
Bob Brown Foundation’s Jenny Weber said “hundreds of thousands of hectares of ancient forests and their wildlife have been bulldozed and burnt (illegally).”
A state government representative said the government “has every confidence in Tasmania’s Forest Practices System and the Tasmanian Forest Practices Code”.
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Originally published as Logging Tasmania: Validating bill may affect TCF, Blue Derby court cases
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