Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas dodges scrutiny on VicForests

Victoria’s Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas says she “may have” and “may not have” discussed writing off anti-logging activists $2m debt with the Treasurer.

Running low: Victorian timber workers, at mills like this at Powelltown, are running out of logs, due to legal action by environment groups locking up coupes.

Agriculture Minister Mary-Anne Thomas has dodged questions on her role in blocking VicForests recovery of $2 million in legal costs from anti-logging group MyEnvironment.

During this morning’s Parliamentary Public Accounts and Estimates Committee inquiry into the 2022-23 Budget Ms Thomas repeatedly stated she had given VicForests “no direction” on the recovery of the $2m.

But under questioning from Nationals South Gippsland MP Danny O’Brien the Minister then admitted she had written to VicForests on the matter, but refused to detail what the letter contained or release a copy of it to the Committee.

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Ms Thomas said. “It’s not appropriate because it’s likely there’s parts of the letter that are commercial-in-confidence.”

Victorian Ag Minister Mary-Anne Thomas. Picture: Mark Stewart

Mr O’Brien countered by arguing that correspondence involving a government owned entity – VicForests – could hardly be considered commercially sensitive.

He then asked Ms Thomas if the $2m debt MyEnvironment owed VicForests had been written-off and if she had discussed the matter with Treasurer Tim Pallas.

“I can’t recall,” Ms Thomas said. “I may have and I may not have.”

The Minister gave some indication of what she may have written in her letter by stating “VicForests is bound by the Government’s model litigation guidelines”, which meant there was little chance of recovering the costs because the litigant had no funds.

The Weekly Times recently reported anti-logging campaigners Environment East Gippsland had admitted diverting $336,000 into a trust fund just three weeks before commencing legal action against VicForests, which would stop the money being used to cover any court-awarded costs if it lost the case.

The timber industry and Coalition Opposition have accused the Labor Government of going soft on environmental activists, as it prepares to battle the Greens in crucial inner city seats at November’s state election.

The Weekly Times in February revealed Labor loyalists had been appointed to departmental positions overseeing forestry policy, with one recently preselected as the party’s candidate in the key electorate of Preston.

The Weekly Times lodged a Freedom of Information request for a copy of Ms Thomas’s letter with the Minister’s department, but was denied access on the grounds the letter was “an internal working document”.

The FOI rejection stated: “In this instance, the letter has been prepared for the Minister and reveals information in the nature of opinion and advice, as well as consultation that has taken place between the Minister and VicForests.

“The contents of the letter have been publicly described as expressing an opinion, which satisfies the first limb of the above test. The information contained in the letter has been created during the deliberative processes involved in duties and functions relevant to the Minister’s portfolio.

“Release of this document is contrary to the public interest having regard to the nature of the

information, the potential impacts on the integrity of the decision-making process and the

confidential nature of the communication.”

Timber industry sources say Labor ministers have repeatedly “leaned on” VicForests not to recover $1.2 million it was owed by the MyEnvironment group.

The debt is the result of a 2015 Supreme Court order demanding MyEnvironment cover VicForests legal costs after the anti-logging activists lost a case it brought against the state-owned forest harvest manager.

Since then the $1.2m debt has ballooned to $2m on the back of unpaid interest.

The Weekly Times has been told VicForests received legal advice last year that it had fresh grounds to pursue the recovery of the debt from MyEnvironment and its directors.