Forest protest at ALP conference

BURNIE -- The Wilderness Society protested outside the ALP's state conference here on June 6 stating the party “has failed all Tasmanians in terms of protecting forests”.

Spokesperson Amanda Sully said, “The ALP is as much to blame as the government for the Burnie pulp mill's closure as both major parties follow an economic policy based on deregulation and free trade”.

Sully pointed to the “ludicrous situation on Burnie wharf with huge rainforest woodchip piles next to plantation logs, both being exported without downstream processing. There is no financial incentive to process resources in Tasmania when companies like North Forest Products can export unlimited woodchips.”

The major parties “receive hundreds of thousands of dollars” in donations from the woodchip industry, she charged. “This financial relationship is devastating local industry and our precious natural resources.” She called for “pulping our existing plantations in Tasmania and leaving our rainforests upright”.

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