Mining in some East Gippsland forests could be approved by tomorrow after the Federal Government announced it would establish a two-tier conservation system for national parks. The new regional forest agreements system will grade forests into dedicated and informal reserves. Mining companies will be given greater access to informal reserves, but dedicated parks will be off-limits to commercial interests. The first regional forest agreement, covering East Gippsland, is expected to be signed by the Victorian Government. The minerals industry has not indicated it has any interest in the informal reserves in East Gippsland and any proposals to mine in the area must pass an environmental assessment.
The National Association of Forest Industries yesterday accused the Federal Government of rorting the process for establishing the East Gippsland regional forest agreement and appealed to the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, to intervene. The association's executive director, Mr Robert Bain, said Canberra had raised with the Victorian Government an option which was outside proposals detailed in the draft agreement and which, if adopted would significant increase the number of forests unavailable for logging. Mr Bain said the association would ask the Federal Government to ensure the industry was not given access to reserves under the national reserve system. The Minister for Energy and Resources, Senator Warwick Parer, who drafted the new system with the Environment Minister. Senator Robert Hill, has also raised questions about the; mining restrictions in dedicated reserves.
The Minerals Council has opposed the new system, claiming the Government should not lock away dedicated reserves when conservation values could be protected by environmental assessments. The Government has moved to placate the powerful mining industry, which exports $35 billion annually, by stating the agreements that it would examine minerals prospects before reserving any forests. "The Government has recognised the contribution of the minerals industry to the national economy and the importance to the industry of ongoing access for minerals exploration," Senator Hill and Senator Parer said in a joint statement.
The new system was condemned by conservation groups, the Australian Labor Party, the Australian Democrats and the Australian Greens. The executive director of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Mr Jim Downey, said the new arrangements would lead to the further erosion of Australia's native forests. "The whole system was meant to result in a process where Australia's native forests will be protected to the maximum possible extent," Mr Downey told ABC radio. "Instead what we're seeing is a Federal Government that is prepared to open up Australia's native forests ... we have no confidence that the supposed safeguards and criteria for selection of which forests will be open to mining and which will be protected is going to result in reserve system for Australias native forests."
He said the tall eucalypt forests and rainforests of East Gippsland were under direct threat from the new system. Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown said Senator Hill had buckled to the mining industry and Senator Parer.
"Opening up forest reserves to mining makes a complete mockery of the Government's promised comprehensive. adequate and representative forest reserve system," Senator Brown said.