Protesters rally in Hobart to end native forest logging
Tasmanian protesters flocked to Hobart’s Parliament Lawns, as part of nationwide action to put an end to native forest logging.
Tasmania
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Tasmanian protesters, who want to put an end to native forest logging, rallied on Hobart’s Parliament Lawns on Sunday, as part of nationwide action.
The rally, organised by the Bob Brown Foundation, was held to send a message to state and federal governments.
Rallies were also held in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and other towns and cities.
“Native forest logging has destroyed large tracts of Tasmania’s globally significant forests, and it must end immediately,” Dr Brown said.
“Right now, habitat for the critically endangered swift parrot is being logged, while the parrots have returned to breed, the only place on Earth they breed.”
Dr Brown said there was wide support from the community to put an end to native forest logging.
“The latest poll from the Australia Institute, ending logging in NSW and Tasmania, 75 per cent of Australians back it,” he said.
The large crowd of forest supporters, which Dr Brown estimated to be in the thousands, heard from forest defenders and politicians, along with 12-year-old forest citizen scientist Grace Kuylaars.
“I love nature, I love every aspect of the forest: I love the smell of the forest and the feel of dew drops falling on my head,” Grace said.
“My favourite place to be is the forest and my favourite thing to do is exploring it.
“Tasmanian masked owls are endangered and need our help, it’s up to us to defend their habitat.
“I know I can still help to defend our amazing forests by helping collect important data.”
Grace urged parents to take their kids to Tasmanian forests and to join in on citizen science projects.
Federal Clark MP Andrew Wilkie said governments could take swift action to protect Tasmanian forests.
“Our native forests are inherently precious and logging should be banned, it’s as simple as that,” he said.
“The easiest way is to simply use the Commonwealth’s power to ban the export of any native forest product – we could do it before Christmas.”
Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) conservation general manager Suzette Weeding said STT sowed millions of seeds across to regenerate native forests.
“Sustainable Timber Tasmania is focused on delivering a sustainable and balanced approach to forest management in both native forests and plantations,” she said.
“In 2023-24, Sustainable Timber Tasmania facilitated the harvesting and transportation of 1.26m tonnes of forest products for processing in Tasmania, including 180,288 cubic metres of eucalypt sawlog.
“To support Tasmania’s special species timber industry, 8889 cubic metres of special species timbers was also produced.”
On Saturday, Resources Minister Eric Abetz said ending native forest logging in Tasmania would result to increased timber imports from jurisdictions with “weaker” environmental protections than Tasmania.
He said the government made no apology for standing by the industry and jobs.
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