Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a)

notes that:

(i)

in regard to the promise by the Prime Minister (Mr Howard) in the 2004 election to protect 18,700 hectares of old-growth forest in the Styx and Florentine valleys, the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Minchin, stated in the Senate on 30 March 2006 that ‘It is absolutely outrageous to suggest that the Prime Minister has not honoured his promise. He is honouring his promises to the people of Tasmania in full. This was a major commitment to the people of Tasmania to achieve both the protection of vital forests and the protection of jobs...’,

(ii)

Senator Minchin’s claims are contradicted by the admission by the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation (Senator Abetz), as reported in the Mercury on 30 November 2006, that ‘not all the Upper Florentine Valley was protected as pledged during the 2004 election campaign’,

(iii)

Senator Minchin’s statement is contradicted by the Government’s own literature about the outcome of the election promises, ‘The Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement: Fact sheet no. 3’ (May 2005), which admits the failure to meet the Prime Minister’s election promise because the protected areas in the Styx and Florentine contain ‘4,730 hectares of old-growth eucalypt against a target of 18,700 hectares’, and

(iv)

the Federal Government is funding logging operations in the Styx and Upper Florentine valleys and publicly-funded road construction is planned to continue in the Upper Florentine; and

(b)

calls on the Government to immediately protect in full all areas that the Prime Minister promised to protect during the 2004 election.

Question put.