Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

We will be supporting the motion for the production of this information, but I should forewarn the Senate that we are considering a motion to also require the databank of Forestry Tasmania—which is protected and has been for years by the Liberals and now by the Labor Party in Tasmania not taking action—to be made available for the public determin­ation of the important matters that are inherent in Senator Colbeck's motion.

He wants information from Professor West, who has obviously and publicly been appointed to do a job, which should be based on data available from the public repository of data owned by Forestry Tasmania, but the gates on that databank are slammed shut and there is a manipulated effort by Forestry Tasmania and its leader Mr Gordon to prevent the public debate from being based on information which is within those lockers. It is not good enough for him to say that the modelling coming out of that data is available in the public arena. We are astute enough to know that the modelling is only as good as the selection of data and it is the databank itself which has to be opened here.

The effort by Forestry Tasmania to manipulate the whole of the public debate through secrecy in the direction of keeping this unsustainable industry going against the public interest needs to be brought to a close, and I expect Senator Colbeck to support that opening of information to the public when the time comes as well.

Question agreed to.