An anti-pulp mill demonstration is set to trigger a move to scrap the forestry peace deal. Sources: Timberbiz, The Examiner
Parliament returned to debate legislation to quash any legal threat to the pulp mill and extend the permits until 2017.
The legislation prompted the Greens to move a no-confidence motion in the government and call for a referendum on the proposed legislation to be held at the same time as the state election on March 15.
As the lower house debates the pulp mill legislation, the Legislative Council may be forced to reconsider if the forestry peace deal is working given the vocal opposition to the pulp mill.
Huon MLC Paul Harriss, who is standing as a Liberal candidate in the state election, said the protest showed the Tasmanian Forest Agreement had failed and he was considering invoking a clause that would effectively kill it off.
Under the legislation, either house of Parliament can vote to declare a failure of durability due to “substantial active protest” which, if successful, would block the creation of any new reserves.
The rally was partly organised by the Wilderness Society, a signatory to the forest peace agreement.
Harriss said it was a clear breach of the environment group’s obligations under the forestry peace legislation.
“My concern is where’s the signatories? No one’s condemning this protest,” Harriss said.
However, support for a pulp mill is not part of the forestry legislation and environment groups maintain they are free to oppose it.
“Every one of them knows that it was the single starting point for the whole negotiation,” Mr Harriss said.
The legislation is set to pass with the support of the Liberals but the Greens have indicated they will attempt to delay a vote for as long as possible.
Greens leader Nick McKim confirmed yesterday they would move a no-confidence motion in the government before debate even starts.
According to Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Senator Richard Colbeck, Bell Bay pulp mill was the main driver of the sham forest peace deal process.
The recent anti-pulp mill protest organised by the Wilderness Society, a signatory to the peace deal, shows the agreement has failed to end conflict he said.
Senator Colbeck said the sham peace deal process started as a private conversation between Gunns and the Greens before it was picked up and crudely shoved onto the community by Labor and the Greens.
“When the Greens say the industry came to them they mean Gunns came to them. The rest of the industry is a victim of that approach and were sucked into the vortex,” he said.
Senator Colbeck said the damage and agony suffered by the forestry industry was a by-product of the clumsy attempt by Labor and the Greens to turn a corporate deal into public policy.
