Federal Court injunction battle cancelled after temporary deal reached over swift parrot coupes

A Federal Court injunction stoush over swift parrot habitats won’t go ahead as planned, with environmentalists and foresters agreeing to a temporary reprieve.

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THE CRITICALLY-endangered swift parrot has been granted a temporary reprieve this summer, with the state’s forester agreeing to halt logging in 49 coupes in the eastern tiers.

The agreement, reached between the Bob Brown Foundation and Sustainable Timber Tasmania, means a Federal Court injunction battle scheduled for Monday will no longer go ahead.

STT had already agreed to halt logging in 19 coupes, but has now added a further 30 to its no-go list after coming to an agreement this week.

The injunction application had been an interim measure to stop logging the coupes in question while both sides awaited a decision from the full bench of the Federal Court over the legality of Tasmania’s Regional Forest Agreement (RFA).

A decision in the historic case, which the foundation has dubbed the “Great Forest Case”, is expected next month.

The foundation has argued the RFA is illegal as it allows the destruction of swift parrot habitat, even while the birds are nesting and feeding there.

“Today’s news is a big breakthrough in environmental protection in Australia,” Bob Brown said on Friday.

“This is a breakthrough, but it should never have been necessary … it’s just unthinkable that this could be happening.”

Dr Brown said some of the coupes in question were up to 400ha in area, with a total area of 4064ha now temporarily protected.

“This is a stage in a long process to stop native forest logging in Tasmania,” Dr Brown said.

An STT spokesperson said it had “proactively and voluntarily offered” to hold logging in the coupes until a decision was handed down by the Federal Court.

“The undertaking is given entirely without admission and solely for the purpose of avoiding a costly and time-consuming dispute regarding an injunction,” the spokesperson said.

“This will provide operational certainty for two harvesting contractors, reduce operational disruption and costs for our contractors.”

They added STT had “every confidence” in the RFA and the state’s practices in providing protection for threatened species.

In December last year, researchers revealed there could be fewer than 300 swift parrots remaining in the wild.

Bob Brown in a logged swift parrot coupe. Picture: Bob Brown Foundation

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