The Australian Democrats called on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate the royalties, saying they unfairly disadvantaged plantations and recycling, while Greens Senator Bob denounced the price as a scandal.
The Government's defence rested on its definition. Sawlogs from native forests are graded from A to D, with the remainder classed as residual, or "pulp". According to the Victorian Association of Forest Industries, about half the timber cut in East Gippsland logging areas is pulp, although it rises to 90 per cent in Some areas.
But the Premier, Mr Jeff Kennett, and the Conservation Minister, Mrs
Marie Tehan, said the low royalties applied to "debris" which
Mrs Tehan defined as the branches and thin or disfigured timber left after
the Sawlogs had been taken out. Mr Kennett and Mrs Tehan said
the Government also raised revenue by charging road and licence fees, which
added $4.10 per tonne to the royalty charged to the Newmerella Logging
Company in East Gippsland.
But in his most recent timber review in the May 1997 report
on ministerial portfolios, the auditorgeneral said the Department of Natural
Resources and Environment's costs had Outweighed its timber revenue for
two years.
"in other words, the department is incurring costs to allow
operators to remove native trees with limited financial benefits accruing
to the state," he wrote.
Mrs Tehan said he had been sent a 1997-98 report showing a $12
million profit, based on data provided by the industry and the Department
of Natural Resources and Environment.