Kelly Wilton from Support Tassie’s Timber People Facebook page is calling on the Labor Party to come clean on their commitment to deliver the outcomes of the repealed Tasmanian Forestry Agreement (TFA). Labor adopted the policy at its National Conference in December, and it is listed as an environmental policy in the Labor Party National Platform document.
On ABC radio on Monday morning Labor’s Legislative Council candidate for Montgomery Michelle Rippon stated the TFA was “all in the past”. In February this year, Ms Wilton sought clarification on whether the policy commitment intention is to lock up 357,000ha of Future Potential Production Forest, with Labor MPs Ross Hart (Bass) Brian Mitchell (Lyons). “I got two very different answers” says Ms Wilton. “Ross hart said “NO!”, but later that same day Brian Mitchell said “YES!” Clearly one of these answers is a lie, and it is time for the Labor Party to come clean about their intentions to inflict this flawed and outdated legislation on the people of Tasmania.”
“It’s not hard to join the dots,” says Ms Wilton. “The policy is there in black and white. It’s called the Tasmanian Forestry Agreement, yet it is not listed as Forest Policy, instead it is hidden under Environmental policies. The environmental outcomes of the TFA was a forced end to native timber harvesting and the lock up of valuable resource in formal reserves. If Labor’s commitment is not about delivering those outcomes, then why is it listed as an environmental policy?”
“It is up to Labor to decide if they want to continue conform to Greens policies and ignore the lessens learned from the dark days of the Labor/Greens governments, but sitting Members and candidates have an obligation to be honest about it. What are they afraid of, if not the response of Tasmanian voters?”
Ends.
