Logging industry plagued by stupidity

WITH reference to Nick Steel’s article “Green deal still stands for industry” (Talking Point, Mercury, October 4), he seems to have forgotten that in 2014 the Tasmanian Forest Agreement was literally torn up by the Hodgman Liberal Government.

The resources minister at the time, Paul Harriss, stated that the government was committed to funding a revival of the industry and that woodchips were a high priority. A local boatbuilder at the time pointed out the fact that thousands of hectares of speciality timbers had been plundered by the woodchip industry. I note that nowhere in Mr Steel’s article did he mention the word “woodchips” and neither did he mention the thousands of tonnes of logs sitting on Hobart’s wharves, destined for China or Malaysia. If there is a shortage of timber in Tasmania, and these skinny logs were permitted to grow into thicker logs, could these not then be processed by the sawmills? Apart from the utter stupidity of this waste, there has never been a disclosure of what these logs and their woodchip counterparts actually sell for.

I believe if he could outlaw the need for clear-felling and ban woodchips altogether, with the exception of sawmill waste, and halt the export of healthy young trees, the forestry industry would thrive and be seen in a different light.

Phil Jones Margate