Labor blocks debate on forests

BY JIM GREEN

The federal Labor “opposition” blocked an April 13 debate in the Senate on a call for the federal and state governments to uphold the law in the forests.

Australian Greens senator Bob Brown, who put the motion to the Senate, said: “Labor, like [minister for forestry and conservation] Wilson Tuckey, is way out of touch with public feeling on forests and outrage at peaceful protesters being beaten up as in recent loggers' raids in the Otways and East Gippsland.”

Brown said, “Victorian courts have twice found state forest authorities were involved in illegal logging. It has occurred elsewhere, including Tasmania. It is peculiar that Labor is not prepared to act against such lawlessness.”

Labor did not bother to give a reason for blocking debate on the motion, but Brown said there is a pro-woodchip hard core in the ALP which backs Tuckey.

The NSW Labor government has also been accused of environmental negligence. An April 9 statement from the Nature Conservation Council (NSW) calls on the minister for land and water conservation and agriculture to direct his department to uphold the state's laws. The demand followed reports that the department of land and water conservation had failed to prosecute reported breaches of environmental protection laws despite the existence of overwhelming evidence.

Tools

• Bookmark This Page
• Print This Page