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

I find it interesting that Senator Colbeck should consider traceability as a 'weapon against industry'. I would have thought that if industry had nothing to hide, it would have no problem with traceability. I am delighted that Senator Brown has taken a position on the board of Markets for Change and that former Greens leader in Tasmania, Pegg Putt, is the new CEO. They will pursue this issue vigorously and make sure that the markets are very well informed as to where the timber products come from—right down to the coupe level.

That is the point that is being made here. They will track it to the coupe. The flooring at the London Olympics was rejected because the claims being made about where that timber came from were wrong. If Senator Colbeck thinks that the best way to protect industry is to prevent traceability then all he is doing is propping up something that is unsustainable in the longer term. That is not going to work. Trying to hide from traceability is not going to work.

As I said, I am disappointed that the government is not taking this on board. The NGOs will continue to watch what is going on around the world. When I come to the next amendment on enforcement and compliance, I will discuss that a little further.