| Back to Letters | Back to Forest Letter Watch |
Under the deal struck last week, the government agreed to defer plans to log 34 contentious coups in the Otways in return for unhindered access to another six.
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) assistant federal secretary Michael O'Connor said forest workers were outraged they had not been consulted about the deal.
"We think it's our right to be consulted if people are going to discuss our future," he said.
"We've got more right to be consulted than a bunch of conservationists who've been victimising our members for the last four or five years. We've got a right to have our voice heard as well."
Wye River Residents Action Group spokesman Greg Hocking said the protest demonstrated how much of the forests were being destroyed for wood chips.
"This is a fantastic display by the logging industry of our forests going off to woodchip," he said.
"Every single truck here today is headed to the woodchip mill."
Mr Hocking said the union had enjoyed a stranglehold on forestry policy for the past 30 years and was unable to accept that other members of the community now had a strong involvement in what happened in the forests and water catchments.
A union delegation met with members of Environment Minister Sherryl Garbutt's staff following the protest.
A spokesman for Ms Garbutt said sections of the logging industry were consulted about the peace deal, but the CFMEU was informed of the deal immediately after it was struck.
He defended the agreement, saying it would ensure timber workers access to the forest.
"The bottom line is the contractors got hardly any wood out of the Otways
last season, and we brokered a deal that will allow them to get their allotted
wood out this season," he said.
| Back to Letters | Back to Forest Letter Watch |