Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That there be laid on the table by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Senator Ludwig), no later than 5 pm on Thursday, 18 August 2011, the technical report and all related documents, provided by Professor Jonathan West to the Commonwealth and Tasmanian Govern­ments and referred to by the Prime Minister (Ms Gillard) in a press conference on 8 August 2011, relating to the determination of the boundaries of the 430 000 hectare claimed 'High Conservation Value Area' in the Tasmanian Forests Inter­governmental Agreement between the Common­wealth of Australia and the State of Tasmania.

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for two minutes.

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you. Mr Deputy President, and I thank the chamber. I just make the point that I note that there is a very short time frame on this motion for the production of documents and I recognise and appreciate that in the past the chamber has expressed a view about giving the govern­ment a reasonable time frame to deal with these matters, but in this circumstance decisions around this information will be made this weekend. I know that industry has sought this data from government. It is not something that has to be sourced broadly. It should be readily available. It is in that circumstance that I have put the time frame that I have around the motion relating to the order to produce documents. I thank the chamber for allowing me to speak.

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

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for two minutes.

Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to 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.