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

This is another example of the misinformation that the Greens deliberately seek to peddle in relation to the proposed pulp mill in the state of Tasmania. What has the Australian Greenhouse Office, the authoritative Australian Greenhouse Office, said about the forestry sector in Australia? They have said it is the only carbon-positive sector of our economy. As the trees are growing, they are cleaning up the atmosphere. That is the ‘inconvenient truth’ that the Australian Greens refuse to listen to, refuse to accept and refuse to acknowledge because it undermines their misinformation campaign. The simple fact is that the pulp mill in Tasmania as currently proposed would in fact be largely using renewable energy sources. As we know, the IPCC, quite rightly, has pointed to the evils of deforestation. What the Greens continually mischievously say to the people of Australia is that forest practices are equal to deforestation. The IPCC and others in the know on this draw a clear difference, a stark contrast, between wholesale deforestation and a responsible forest practice like we have in this country. As I have often said to the Australian Greens, I encourage Senator Milne, when she asks her supplementary question, to tell me one country where they do forestry better than we do in Australia. I will take myself over there to learn their practices and will seek to import them here. I have thrown down that challenge to the Australian Greens time and again, and they are unable to answer. Why? Because in their heart of hearts they know that the forest practices in this country are the best in the world. We must be on broadcast, because Senator Bob Brown has a point of order.