According to Senator Richard Colbeck, the Environment Minister Tony Burke has bungled the World Heritage nomination of 170,000 hectares of forest he bulldozed past Tasmanians in February. Source: Timberbiz
Coalition Forestry spokesman Senator Richard Colbeck said it was well known the area included regrowth forest from clear fell and burn, along with forests that are yet to be harvested and regenerated.
“Minister Burke’s nomination is broken beyond repair,” Senator Colbeck said. “The boundaries come up against future harvest zones, which removes buffer zones required under world heritage requirements.
“And we now know that the area listed includes private land.
“Further, there are extensive areas where the listing area comes up against private property, impacting on the property rights of the private owners.”
Senator Colbeck said the Tasmanian Government had requested that about 10,000 hectares be removed from the listing to rectify the problems caused.
“It is our understanding that Mr Burke has refused in an attempt to save himself embarrassment, telling the Tasmanian government if area is to be removed, it must be replaced with additional land,” he said.
“Tony Burke nominated 170,000ha and that is what he wants.
“This is hardly a systematic or scientific process.
“Just as he has done with his unscientific lock up of huge swathes of Australia’s oceans, he has done with Tasmanian forests. It is a land grab at the whim of environmental interests.
“Tony Burke has put this up as a minor extension, which we know it is not. He was trying to avoid any meaningful analysis of the nominated area. Because of his failure to consult and his attempts to have the listing rammed through the World Heritage Committee, it has been comprehensively bungled.
“This is symptomatic of the way that Mr Burke operates – a sham process, littered with broken promises to industry and favours to green groups.”
