Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

I am glad that Senator Milne did correct herself. I said that the forest industry is carbon positive; I did not say that about the pulp mill. If Senator Milne is genuinely concerned about greenhouse gases, why would she suggest that 80 per cent of the product, which is going to be sourced from north-east Tasmania, be sent by diesel truck from the north-east to the north-west to be processed, which will put literally thousands of extra tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere? Why do you oppose a pulp mill, which will ensure that fossil fuels continue to be burnt by shipping the woodchips from Tasmania to Japan to be processed, only to be returned to Australia, through fossil fuels and the shipping industry, knowing full well that in Japan they will be processed in a dirtier mill than exists in Tasmania? It is so typical of the Greens’ ‘not in my backyard’ mentality.