Why are these low royalties only available via leaked letters? One could surmise that the low price reflects a cosy arrangement between woodchip companies and those tasked with protecting and managing our forests. There appears to be no accountability in public office, when such arrangements are condoned at the highest level. It is a scandal that the Kennett Government presents itself as economically responsible, yet it allows secret subsidies such as this to flourish, then seek to defend them when they are exposed.
The rhetoric surrounding definitions of "debris" is more misrepresentation of the facts. Contrary to Government and timber industry claims, tree tops and branches are not used for woodchips, as a visit to any freshly devastated logging coop will confirm. This low-density material is left behind, then burnt in so-called "regeneration burns" before winter, creating fires that are hot enough to kill any unfortunate animals lucky enough to survive the initial onslaught of clear-felling. Once proud forest giants are the true source of the woodchips being given away for a song to foreign multinationals.
It is to be hoped that the Senate enquiry currently underway reveals the true story behind of the rapacious and uneconomic clearfelling that industrial forestry is visiting on our remaining (and fast vanishing) native forests. Hopefully, the abject failure of the Regional Forest Agreements to protect our native forests, and to provide job security for timber workers, will also be revealed.
Full ecological inventories of our remaining high-conservation value
forests are urgently required rather than the shoddy scientific forays
conducted to date that have bee designed to confirm that logging is sustainable
in native forests, when patently it is not. Economically viable alternatives
to native forest logging are not hard to find - extensive plantations are
ready, in fact overdue, for harvesting. Unfortunately, it may take
another election to sharpen our politician's focus on finding real solutions
to protecting our natural heritage and providing truly sustainable rural
employment.