The Wire

Union groups have reacted with anger to a Labor party initiative which aims to safe guard Tasmania’s old growth forests such as the Tarkine Wilderness and the Styx Valley. If elected a Labor government will appoint a high-level review panel which will assess which forests should be protected and then report back to the government next September. A Labor government would also set aside $800 million to create new economic and job opportunities for the island’s 10,000 forestry workers. While environmental lobby groups have responded warmly to the news, concern has been expressed about the lack of detail in the policy and the long-time frame set for reporting back to the government. However, as Geoff Law from the Wilderness Society told the Wire, when compared against an environmental checklist devised by the society, the Australian Conservation Foundation and Greenpeace, The Labor policy scores highly. Erica Vowles also spoke to Michael O’Connor, the National Assistant Secretary with the forestry division of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) who believes forestry workers are getting a rough deal and will place their votes now with the Coalition. However, political analyst and Deputy Head of Macquarie University’s Politics Department, Geoffrey Hawker, thinks Labor’s policy could secure preferences for the Greens because voters have become so disillusioned with the major parties failure to protect old growth forests.