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In a last-minute move to prevent the exports becoming illegal under the system of regional forest agreements, the Government has amended export control regulations to approve single shipments on a case-by-case basis. The amendment means the Forestry and Conservation Minister, Mr Wilson Tuckey, need not get Parliament's approval to extend Harris Daishowa's export licence, which expired last Friday.
All woodchip export licences expired on 31 March, the deadline for signing all regional forest agreements. Woodchips can now come only from forests covered by the 20-year Commonwealth-state agreements. Licence extensions for other areas need parliamentary approval.
Southern NSW supplies about 12 per cent of Harris Daishowa's woodchips, but the forest agreement for this region was not signed last Friday because of a dispute between Mr Tuckey and NSW over conservation measures.
The woodchips from all three regions supplying Harris Daishowa are mingled in a stockpile. The ship Daishowa-Maru is due to leave port on Monday with about 70,000 tonnes from the stockpile. Harris Daishowa's corporate affairs manager, Mr Vince Phillips, said the Federal Government had told the company that as long as it complied with regulations, "we have nothing to worry about''.
Mr Tuckey said in a statement yesterday the company must ensure no export woodchips were sourced from potential conservation reserves in southern NSW. He claimed there would be job losses if the company could not export from its stockpile. He said Harris Daishowa, the only company exporting woodchips from southern NSW, was now eligible to apply for single shipment licences.
The regulations were amended after the Environmental Defender's Office, on behalf of the Wilderness Society, threatened a Federal Court injunction against Harris Daishowa on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the Wilderness Society, Ms Virginia Young, said Mr Tuckey and Harris Daishowa were thumbing their noses at the law. Conservation groups have called for a government inquiry into alleged violence against environmentalists in Victoria's forests amid claims of inaction and bias by police and government departments. Victoria Police are investigating the incidents but say they are yet to receive a formal complaint from the injured protesters.
with BRETT FOLEY
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