Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

They have a position on native forest logging. I would say to them that I think we all understand—and the Albanese government understands—that native forests are valuable for their carbon storage and native habitats, including for endangered animals like swift parrots. That is why the government has already announced that, for the first time in Australia, the regional forest agreements will have to comply with new environment laws. I understand that the position that has been put to me is essentially a hard-line position—'hard-line' meaning it's drawing a line; I wasn't trying to make a political comment—in relation to native forests. Obviously, the government has to balance the regional forest agreement imperatives as well as the environmental imperatives that the senator references. (Time expired)