Sustainable Timber Tasmania plantations sold for $60 million

UPDATED: RESOURCES Minister Guy Barnett has faced a barrage of questions in Parliament after announcing the sale of 29,000ha of hardwood forest plantations for $60 million.

Resources Minister Guy Barnett. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

RESOURCES Minister Guy Barnett has faced a barrage of questions in State Parliament after announcing the sale of 29,000 hectares of hardwood forest plantations for $60.7 million via a Facebook post.

Labor and the Greens both directed questions at Mr Barnett, with Labor leader Rebecca White accusing him of making a “fire sale” at a loss to taxpayers.

Ms White said it cost taxpayers $90 million to put the trees in the ground, and called the sale a “dud deal”.

Greens Leader Cassy O’Connor cited a 2012 letter in which the Auditor-General accepted figures estimating the cost of establishing the plantations was in excess of $100 million.

Ms O’Connor also said the purchaser, Reliance Forest Fibre, had a parent company listed in the Cayman Islands.

She said Reliance Forest Fibre was established just two months ago.

Mr Barnett said the MPs “should be saying congratulations and well done”.

“Our plan is one that is delivering for Tasmanians,” he said.

Mr Barnett said the sale would add to Sustainable Timber Tasmania’s bottom line, with an estimated $15 million of the proceeds slated to be used to boost health funding.

The Government has sold the rights to the plantations and not the land itself, Mr Barnett said.

However, Ms O’Connor said the 99-year lease provided to the company amounted to selling the land.

Ms O’Connor moved to suspend standing orders to urgently debate a motion on the sale immediately after Question Time, but her motion was lost.

It is unclear whether Mr Barnett will face the media today.

EARLIER: RESOURCES Minister Guy Barnett has announced the sale of 29,000 hectares of hardwood forest plantations for $60.7 million.

Mr Barnett says the sale, to an entity called Reliance Forest Fibre, will boost Sustainable Timber Tasmania’s bottom line.

The sale is part of the restructure and rebadging of the loss-making Government business formerly known as Forestry Tasmania.

“The funds meet the sale objectives of paying down the debt, supporting Sustainable Timber Tasmania’s transition to full sustainability,” Mr Barnett said in the announcement on Facebook.

The Government has sold the rights to the plantations and not the land itself, Mr Barnett said.

Reliance Forest Fibres will set up a local office and employ Tasmanian contractors, he said.

Heavily subsidised FT made a $67 million loss in 2015-16 before being rebadged on July 1.

Mr Barnett said the State Government had improved the business’s bottom line by $30 million over four years.