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

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation (Senator Abetz) to a question without notice asked by Senator Milne today relating to climate change.

In particular, I want to note the failure of the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation to ensure that the proposed Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania is assessed for its greenhouse gas emissions. We have a Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation who tried to mislead the parliament when I asked the question about the pulp mill by saying that the Australian Greenhouse Office measures carbon in forests and so on. I asked specifically about the pulp mill proposal. Under the RPDC process, the greenhouse gas emissions were to be assessed. Once that process was dumped by the Lennon government, there was no prospect of the greenhouse gas emissions being assessed. And yet the minister and his colleagues stand up and say to the rest of the world in the Sydney declaration that they are concerned about climate change. In fact, under ‘forests’ the Sydney declaration says:

Forests can play a critical role in the carbon cycle. Ongoing action is required to encourage afforestation and reforestation and to reduce deforestation ...

The pulp mill in Tasmania is going to lead to massive deforestation and we are going to see at least 10 million tonnes of greenhouse emissions every year as a result of the pulp mill, and the minister will not allow it to be assessed. What are you afraid of? What is the government so afraid of? What is the opposition so afraid of? Why won’t you allow the greenhouse gas emissions from this pulp mill to be assessed? How can the community have any faith in all this talk about climate change when we know that deforestation is a major driver and you will not allow this to be assessed?