Australia's "Clearfell Olympic Games"
11/3/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: The "Clearfell Olympic Games" New South Wales state,
Australia - Green groups condemn impending logging decision
of regional Premier Carr
Source: Friends of the Earth, Sydney
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 3, 1999
NEWS RELEASE:
SENT TO: international media, United Nations, European Parliament
MPs, US Congress, international environment groups, Australian
networks
TITLE: The "Clearfell Olympic Games" New South Wales state, Australia
- Green groups condemn impending logging decision of regional Premier
Carr
TEXT: Today provincial state Premier Bob Carr - whose government is
responsible for organising the Sydney 2000 Olympics - has commenced
final negotiations to approve massive clearfell logging in the
picturesque tourism and agricultural "Southern Region" - on Sydney's
doorstep. South Eastern Australia has already been ravaged in the
past by clearfell logging for woodchip feedstock for Japanese pulp
mills, notably Daishowa also active in Canada's old growth forests.
The Southern Region forests are also close to the national seat of
government in Canberra.
Tom McLoughlin, lawyer activist and natural areas campaigner with
Friends of the Earth in Sydney said today:
"Premier Carr claims he's an environmentalist yet last year passed a
new law to clearfell 800,000 hectares of forest and he's about to
allow more clearfelling on Sydney's doorstep.
"This follows reports that in the adjacent state of Queensland
clearing rates (340,000 hectares per year) are as bad as in the
Amazon. Australia's leading scientists have also announced that 12
million hectares of Australia's prime agricultural region in NSW will
be ruined by rising salt resulting from previous land clearing.
"Regional Premier Carr will also desecrate world famous Bondi Beach
with a giant temporary volleyball stadium at a cost of Aust$20
million making much of the beach unusable during the Olympic Games.
"Unlike the 1998 clearfelling decisions by Premier Carr the
environment groups are ready this time for the state government's
million dollar PR spin. 45,000 leaflets have been circulated to
landholders, fishing and tourism industry workers and the general
public in the Southern Region about the clearfelling which will ruin
their way of life.
"The environmental credentials of Premier Carr are in tatters. The
credibility of the "Green Olympic Games" in Sydney is likely to be
damaged.
The great tragedy is that an enormous existing plantation stockpile
exists in the Southern Region making logging of precious and rare
native forests unnecessary" concluded Mr McLoughlin.
Further comment: Tom McLoughlin tel. 0410 558838, or Sydney 61-2-9517
3900
FOREST RESOLUTIONS PASSED UNANIMOUSLY BY THE NEW SOUTH WALES
ENVIRONMENT MOVEMENT OCTOBER 30-31st 1999 convened by NSW Nature
Conservation Council a member of the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature serving 125 NSW environment groups)
26. Failure of Regional Forest Agreements Submitted by the North
Coast Environment Council Inc.
Noting that the NSW Forest Agreements, the Regional Forest Agreements
and Forestry and National Parks Estate Act 1998 all perpetuate
unsustainable logging practices and fail to provide adequate
protection for the State's biodiversity,
THAT this conference condemn the State Government for failing in its
decisions following the regional forest assessments for the Eden,
Upper North East and Lower North East regions, to deliver on its 1995
election promise to protect the State's old growth forests, end
export woodchipping [of native forests] by the year 2000, and move
the timber industry on to a regrowth and plantation base.
BACKGROUND: The State Government's forest decisions which see 20 year
compensatable logging contracts that depend on the ongoing logging of
old growth and other high conservation value forest areas are
unacceptable. The forest campaign groups of North East NSW have no
faith that the Government can, will or wants to rectify this
situation. We will remember the Government of [Premier] Bob Carr as
one that failed in the historic opportunity to resolve forest
conflict by protecting high conservation value forests and
financially enabling an industry restructure. The Carr Government
should be remembered as a Government which has raided the
Environmental Trust funds of the people of NSW [Aust$60 million] to
prop up an industry that continues to destroy forest areas deemed as
"irreplaceable" by the Government's own assesment.
27. Protecting remaining high conservation value forests Submitted by
the North Coast Environment Council Inc.
THAT this Conferene desires that the Nature Conservation Council of
NSW: (a) continue to actively campaign for an end to export
woodchipping [of native forests] by the year 2000, and for the
protection of all of the remaining old growth forests, wilderness and
other high conservation value areas identified during regional
assessments, that remain available for logging;
(b) send a letter to the NSW Premier Bob Carr advising him of the
above motion; (c) recommend to members of NSW Parliament that they
not support Bills which make further calls on the Environmental Trust
Funds for timber industry restructuring; and
(d) include in all relevant submissions and correspondence to the NSW
Government relating to the forest reserve system and native
vegetation management, a paragraph which states:
"The Nature Conservation Council of NSW is of the view that the
forest reserve system created after the forest decisions of 1998 is
inadequate for biodiversity conservation and fails to meet the
nationally agreed criteria for a comprehensive adequate and
representative reserve system. The NCC is very concerned that in
these forest decisions, the Premier has perpetuated unsustainable
logging practices, and has failed to deliver on his 1995 election
promise to protect the State's old growth forests and move the timber
industry on to a regrowth and plantation base."
28. Delaying the Southern NSW forest assessment Submitted by Friends
of the Earth, Sydney THAT the Nature Conservation Council of NSW
write to the NSW Premier and Prime Minister with a copy to respective
opposition leaders calling for a delay until at least 31st March 2000
for any decision on the forest assessment for the Southern forest
management area.
BACKGROUND: Southern region covers roughly Narooma to north of
Nowra, and west to Tumut. There has been requests from stakeholders
from across a broad spectrum to delay this govt sponsored process due
to lack of detailed information and need for greater community
consultation. This includes public statements from the Southern
Regional Forest Forum (which includes environmentalists) and NSW
Farmers Association. Laurie Ferguson - shadow federal forests
minister indicates he has no objection at this stage to a delay
(pers. comm. FoE forest campaigner outside NSW ALP conference 2nd
October 1999).
29. Fraudulent southern "forest agreement" model Submitted by Friends
of the Earth, Sydney THAT the Nature Conservation Council of NSW
endorse the following statement regarding the NSW forest legislation
as it applies to Southern region of NSW:
"The Nature Conservation Council of NSW does not accept that any
system based on 20 years of intensive logging and clearfelling native
forests for woodchips is sustainable forest management.
It is a legal certainty that the Japanese woodchipping giant Diashowa
will get 20 years of guaranteed access to our forests under the
Regional Forest Agreement model.
This is already set in legislation under sections 15 and 30 of the
Forestry and National Park Act 1998 (NSW).
The same Act (sections 36 to 40) removes hard won environmental
safeguards in the Threatened Species Act, National Parks & Wildlife
Act, Local Government Act, Environmental Offences Act, Environmental
Planning Act and Wilderness Act.
This means "open slather" logging in those forests not protected as
National Parks.
NCC demands the government immediately save the forest catchments and
tourism assets in community reserve proposals and shift industry into
the plantation stockpile."
BACKGROUND: The text of the above statement was issued on the 25th
June 1999 in the names of the following:
- Tim O'Rourke, vice president South East Forest Conservation Council
- Harriet Swift, ChipStop
- Indra Esguerra, Conservation Council of South East Region and
Canberra - Richard Barcham, Bega Network Environment Centre - Peter
Evans, Peak Alone-Wandella Catchment Association - Gerhard Weidman,
ForestCare Australia - Gus Gulson, Old Growth Preservation Society -
Tom McLoughlin, Friends of the Earth/Southern Forest Alliance - Frank
Miller, FoE Southern Tablelands - Michael Canopy, FoE Shoalhaven
- Elizabeth Cook, Eurobodalla Greens
- Catherine Moore, Braidwood Greens
- Kath Friehaut, Bega Greens
Not only is the new legislative framework in NSW a complete breach of
election promises by Bob Carr in 1995 but reinforces industry
projection of an 84% increase in southern region woodchip volumes by
2020 in "Industry development options for the southern NSW forest
industry to 2010 and 2020" Margules Poyry Pty Ltd, September 1997.
The alternative is the Queensland govt approach for SE Qld where
woodchipping is excluded with a phase out of the native forest
sector.
30. Right to protest in public forests
THAT NCC write to NSW Premier and NSW Attorney General and their
respective shadow regarding the right to democratic protest in, and
access to, NSW public forests and in particular:
- to oppose draconian new forest regulations proposed by State
Forests and Forests Minister Kim Yeadon increasing penalties for
peaceful democratic protest to $2,000;
- to commend the decision of Magistrate Morihan in the Newcastle
Local Court (who noted in May this year protester claims of breach of
election promises by the Carr Government) in
(a) refusing to record convictions for trespass and damage to
woodchips at Boral Woodchip pile at Kooragang Island; and (b)
refering witness costs to the NSW Attorney General; - to condemn this
new attempt by State Forests to inflame a phoney law and order debate
in NSW public forests, which forests belong to the community not
multinational woodchip companies.
- to recall the undertakings made pre-election to the media and
public on 23rd February in the Parliament House theatrette by Jeff
Shaw, NSW Attorney-General and his shadow John Hannaford to the
effect that they will not consider draconian laws used in Tasmania
and Victoria to close public forest resulting in huge fines and jail
for young peaceful environmentalists for "trespassing"
- to remind Jeff Shaw of his undertaking outside the NSW ALP
conference on 2nd October 1999 that he would not support draconian
forest protest regulations (pers. comm. FoE forest campaigner).
31. Re-endorsement of Forest Protection Petition Submitted by Friends
of the Earth, Sydney THAT the Nature Conservation Council of NSW re-
endorse the Forest Protection Petition previously signed and sent to
the Commonwealth Govt but with new target destination being the NSW
Government.
BACKGROUND: NCC has supported this petition which in summary supports
an immediate end to native forest logging in favour of ethical
plantation timber sources. About 120,000 signatures have been
collected targeting the Federal Parliament (Senate and House of
Representatives). Previous versions collected an additional 100,000
signatures aimed at the NSW Parliament. It is thought necesary to
target the NSW Parliament again in light of ongoing breach of
election promises by the Carr Labor government to save all high
conservation value forests from woodchipping.
32. Open letter to the Premier about woodchipping [NSW native
forests] Submitted by Friends of the Earth, Sydney THAT Nature
Conservation Council of NSW write to the NSW Premier noting the
following in relation to NSW forest protection policy:
- $270 million of investment in the tree farm agricultural sector in
the financial year ending June 1999 resulting in about a decade in
about 14 million tonnes of plantation woodchips hitting the market
over a two year period (senior industry analyst David Franklin,
Australian Financial Review 20th July 1999);
- the massive under utilised plantation stockpile is already
responsible for 72% of wood products for building; Dr Judy Clark
Australian newspaper 1st June 1999;
- 1,000 jobs coming on steam from the plantation based Visy project
at Tumut; - concern at the disastrous salinisation effects on
agricultural land of forest clearing reported by CSIRO such that
nationally (a) 2.5 million hectares is sterilised and expected to
increase six fold to 15 million hectares
(b) infrastructure including buildings in Wagga Wagga, Western Sydney
and elsewhere are being damaged costing about $100 million per year
(c) lost agricultural production exceeds $130 million a year (CSIRO,
Dr Tom Hatton, Australian newspaper 10th July 1999); - noting the
purchase by WA state govt for $9.5 million some 3,000 hectares of
forest catchment to prevent logging causing salinity at Wellington
Dam near Bunbury (Australian newspaper 2nd July 1999).