Federal governments of all persuasions have historically protected and funded Australia’s forest destruction.
Federal governments of all persuasions have historically protected and funded Australia’s forest destruction.
APM, AMCOR, Australian Paper, Paperlinx, whatever you want to call this huge Latrobe Valley pulp and paper mill, they clearly have very close connections with the state and federal governments. Donations and gifts flow freely between them (see the article here on political donations from woodchip companies). In April, while touring Gippsland’s now marginal seat …
When Mark Latham’s travels took him to Gippsland in February he was quizzed by students about his forthcoming trip to Tasmania. His reply was that he would keep logging old growth: “Well in Tasmania we wouldn’t want to see an end to logging in the old growth forests and I don’t think Bob Brown himself …
Up until March 14th, the RFAs were merely an agreement, not legally binding documents. Labor and Liberals worked like best mates to railroad this legislation through in an early morning Canberra sitting. Its passage was met by a huge cheer from both parties. It successfully allows the Feds to wash their hands of any responsibility …
Will you still love me tomorrow? In the morning after the $300M Regional Forest Agreements party, Australia’s woodchippers answer with a resounding “no”. Never a generous suitor, the woodchipping industry has now all but deserted Australia’s political parties. The Forest Products Association (FPA) has even dumped Fred Nile! With twenty years of woodchipping safely in …
The Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) sprang from the Earth Summit conference in Rio de Janiero in 1992 where Australia signed a ‘Global Statement of Principles on Forests’. The federal and State governments (excepting Tasmania) then signed onto the National Forest Policy Statement six months later. This policy stated that there would be a comprehensive, adequate …
The Federal Productivity Commission recently condemned the subsidised underpricing of logs by governments as illegal and called for a complete overhaul of the system nationally. A 61 page statement from the Competition Complaints Office, entitled Competitive Neutrality in Forestry, finds that none of the country’s state forest managers operate a commercial rate of return on …
