SA Water Bureaucrats Axe forestry industry

Australia‟s peak forest industry body, AFPA, has such serious concerns with the South Australian Department of Water that it is calling for a major review of the department.
As the Lower Limestone Coast Water Allocation Plan is developed and Legislation is tabled in Parliament, the industry has identified a range of simple but serious errors in information put forward by the Department of Water consultation documents.
The Association says the department has repeatedly demonstrated a systematic bias against tree plantations and as a result has based public policy on flawed information.
AFPA CEO Allan Hansard said the concerns have been raised with the State Government for almost two years without action. The Association had several examples of what it considers misleading information.
“We have uncovered gross errors in reporting the socio-economic importance of the forestry industry to the South East. More seriously, there are grossly inappropriate assumptions in the „research‟ underpinning the policy analysis. The research is lacking in necessary public policy rigour and objectivity,” he said.
“We have also had reports of poor consultation with the Stakeholder Reference Group.
“The Department just doesn‟t listen. These are similar concerns to those being expressed by groups such as the farmers in Strathalbyn.”
Mr Hansard said the policy will have major impacts on regional communities in the south east of the state, with impacts on investor certainty, economic damage and job losses.
“It will also lead to perverse outcomes. The water policy, which is supposedly in the environment‟s interest, could cause deforestation as trees will not be replanted. This is akin to increasing the State‟s carbon emissions.
Mr Hansard said it was not too late for this process to be rectified. “We would like to see the water department change the way it operates and address the concerns we have raised. The development of water policy in SA should be consistent with the National Water Initiative (NWI).
“We‟d also like to see the Natural Resources Management (Commercial Forests) Amendment Bill 2010 amended or withdrawn to include all water affecting activities by dryland crops and highly modified pastures.”