Forest Accord Might Ease Confrontation
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday June 7, 1988
The conference unanimously endorsed last night the negotiation of a forest accord, involving the unions and the conservation movement, to seek common ground between foresters and environmentalists.
According to the Minister for Resources, Senator Cook, such an accord held out the prospect of ending bitter confrontation between conservationists and developers.
He said the essential elements of such an accord were a move away from woodchip exports and the development of industries which add value to forest products. These would include flitch mills and pulp and paper mills.
It was also designed to encourage tree plantations, both to develop economic returns from trees as a crop and to reduce the demand on resources taken from native resources.
The conference has already witnessed demonstrations by loggers and conservationists over the future of the Lemonthyme and Southern Forests in Tasmania.
Some delegates were later sceptical of the idea of an accord, pointing out that there were some major conflicting land-use decisions which would have to be confronted.
These included the recommendations of the Helsham Inquiry on the Lemonthyme Forest, which have been strongly opposed by the conservation movement.
The conference rejected moves to establish a coal authority to oversee negotiations on coal exports.
Instead, it passed a resolution endorsing the Government's establishment of an Australian Coal Marketing and Technology Council. The council is designed to enable the Government to co-ordinate price negotiations by Australian coal companies, without being directly involved in price fixing.
© 1988 Sydney Morning Herald