Intervention call on Tasmanian logging expansion, as Bob Brown warns of full jails

The Albanese government is under pressure to stop Tasmania logging native forests protected under Julia Gillard, as state Labor and key timber players refuse to back the Liberals’ harvesting expansion.

Forests at Blue Tier, in Tasmania's northeast, part of a 356,000ha protected under the 2012 "peace deal" between the forest industry and conservationists but which is now earmarked for future potential logging. Pictures: Rob Blakers

The Albanese government is under pressure to stop Tasmania logging native forests that were protected under Julia Gillard, as state Labor and key timber players refuse to back the Liberals’ harvesting expansion.

As revealed exclusively by The Australian, the Rockliff Liberal government has vowed to log 40,000 hectares of native forests protected under the 2012 industry conservation “peace deal”.

Veteran conservationist Bob Brown told The Australian the move would fill Tasmania’s jails with forest protesters unless there was federal intervention.

The policy was also rejected by state Labor, which instead flagged improving local sawmillers’ access to plantation forests.

Forest industry response was underwhelming, even hostile, with the Tasmanian Forest Products Association accusing the Liberals of using their industry as a “political football”.

The 40,000ha of native forests in Tasmania’s northeast and northwest, now promised for logging by the Liberal government, are part of 356,000ha protected under the 2012 Tasmanian Forest Agreement.

That deal was backed by state and federal Labor governments, which provided compensation to industry for loss of resource and retooling to use plantation timber.

Dr Brown said the Albanese government should intervene to stop the logging “and, or” demand a refund of taxpayer compensation.

“The forest industry got compensated by $58m by the Gillard government to protect these forests and Rockliff should give it back,” Dr Brown said.

“If he doesn’t, Albanese should take it back.

“We are taking this very seriously. These are very high conservation value forests (that are) very important for rare and endangered species, including the world’s biggest freshwater crayfish.

“If Labor won’t take up the gauntlet, we will. The end of this will be a lot of people in jail for peacefully defending the forests … the commonwealth should intervene.”

Mr Albanese and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek declined to comment. “We won’t be drawn on vague statements made in the heat of election campaigns,” a government spokeswoman said.

State Labor leader Rebecca White refused to support the logging expansion, which comes as native forest harvesting is banned in Victoria and Western Australia.

“This is simply about reigniting the forest wars and causing conflict when we’ve had a lot of peace in our forests for a quite a while,” Ms White said.

She said the forest industry had benefited from uncontested access to markets and bipartisan support. “That’s all been undone today,” she said.

While some sawmillers and key industry players support potentially harvesting parts of the 356,000ha, few would categorically back the new policy.

The Tasmanian Forest Products Association expressed “disappointment” at the move, which has ignited forestry as a key issue ahead of the March 23 state ­election.

“The Liberals have been in government for a decade and could have solved our wood supply issue at any time, but instead, they have decided to make it an election issue,” said association chief executive Nick Steel.

His association wants a “full examination of the land, with input from a range of groups – including forestry, Aboriginal bodies and environmental agencies”.

The Tasmanian Sawmillers’ Association was lukewarm about the expansion. “We’d need to see more detail in terms of who would be managing it, whether it would be certified … what’s on this land, what sort of resource is there,” spokesman Matthew Torenius told The Australian.

He said a more immediate issue for the industry was gaining access to wood supply from the existing production forests, amid concerns about resources being sold to Victorian mills.

CFMEU official Michael O’Connor said the logging plan was “an irresponsible gambit” that risked workers’ livelihoods, backing industry calls for a more considered proposal.

The Liberals are expected to on Friday promise to extend sawmillers’ native forest log contracts beyond 2027.