John Madigan (Victoria, Democratic Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Senate—

  (a)   notes that:

     (i)   at a recent public rally in Hobart, Tasmanian members of the Timber Communities Australia publicly displayed signs calling for the recognition of their cultural heritage,

     (ii)   the Tasmanian timber communities are among the oldest continuing communities in Australia and derive their identity from the continuing connection to their district, environment and industry which they have developed over generations, and

     (iii)   the Tasmanian timber communities, as a matter of basic human rights, wish to pass their identity and cultural heritage on to future generations of those communities without government interference;

  (b)   calls on the Government to withdraw the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the State of Tasmania (Australian Labor Party/Australian Greens governments) until such time as the effects the agreement will have on the cultural heritage of the Tasmanian timber communities has been assessed and addressed to the satisfaction of those communities.