Lara Giddings and Julia Gillard appear the last two people in Australia who still believe the Tasmanian forestry Intergovernmental Agreement can succeed. "I don't agree with his assessment that Tasmanian forests are being harvested at unsustainable rates, but I do agree with Professor Jonathan West's view today that an agreement will not be reached and the issues will not be resolved," Coalition Forestry Spokesman Richard Colbeck said. "I also agree with his report's finding that the supply agreements Ms Giddings promised to honour cannot be met if any further forest is locked up. "The reason the IGA is doomed to fail is that the environment groups are not interested in peace. "If environment groups were genuine, we would not be seeing ongoing disruptive protest actions here in Tasmania and corporate sabotage in our international markets. "The only thing environment groups are serious about is the total destruction of Tasmania's forest industry - at whatever cost to our forest communities and our State's economy. "Prof. West's advice today comes off the back of warnings delivered by retiring Labor Senator Nick Sherry and AWU secretary Paul Howes in recent days. How much longer will the State and Federal Governments stubbornly push on with this sham process? "The Federal Coalition has consistently maintained that the Intergovernmental Agreement and the political mechanism that have produced it are a sham. "We are no closer to peace in the forests than when this process commenced in 2010, and there is no logical basis for any more of Tasmania's forest resources to be locked up. "The Federal Coalition stands by its previous calls for the deal to be torn up. "Ms Giddings and Ms Gillard must stop being so ignorant and take notice of the warnings that are pouring in which all say this deal is a dud and it won't bring peace to Tasmania's forests. "Ms Giddings and Ms Gillard should by now understand the consequences of broken promises," Senator Colbeck said.
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Authorised by Sam McQuestin, Level 2/24 Murray Street, Hobart TAS 7000 | Updated 24 May 2013 | Admin
