From: EcoNet via Jym Dyer <jym@mica.berkeley.edu>
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive,alt.activism,talk.environment,alt.native
Subject: NEWS: Australian Forests to be Privatised
Followup-To: talk.environment,alt.native
Date: 20 Nov 1992 01:48:47 GMT
Organization: The Naughty Peahen Party Line
NNTP-Posting-Host: remarque.berkeley.edu

[From EcoNet greenleft.news Conference]

=> Nov 10, 1992 by peg:greenleft in web:greenleft.news

NSW set to privatise forests
  Peter Anderson

SYDNEY - Environmentalists and supporters of Aboriginal rights
will rally outside state parliament on Friday, November 13, to
oppose the government's resource security legislation. The
legislation would in effect privatise state forests, placing
them in the hands of the timber companies.

The companies would enter contractual arrangements with the
government or the Forestry Commission for logging on state land
for a period of, say, 20 years. Any actions on the part of
current or future governments to halt logging would then be in
breach of contract and make the companies eligible for
compensation.

``This treats the companies as if all their Christmases had come
at once'', says the Nature Conservation Council's Sid Walker.
``From that time on they would not have to bother whether there
was a market for their products. They could cash in on what are
called public assets, that is the publicly owned forests.

``I could envisage all sorts of scenarios, like deliberately
creating a crisis of wood supply. They might conveniently
discover an endangered species or a key Aboriginal site in
forests under contract and engender a big public furore. If the
government then was compelled to resume the land, the companies
would get a big pay-out for doing absolutely nothing.

``At the same time, there is nothing in the bills forcing the
companies to maintain employment, and I expect we shall see a
continuation of the labour shedding that has been going on for
decades in the timber industry. The ideology behind the
legislation is straight from the National Party. Even Liberal
MPs, particularly from urban areas, recognise that this
legislation is out of step with community values.''

The committee responsible for the package will present
its report to parliament on November 17. Environmental
organisations, including the Nature Conservation Council,
have been joined recently by the NSW Aboriginal Land Council
in opposition to the bills, which are likely to be blocked
by independents in state parliament.

``We're very encouraged by the approach the NSW Land Council
has taken on this issue. They see a very significant threat
to Aboriginal interests and to the protection of Aboriginal
heritage'', said Walker.

``The Aboriginal community is furious that Aboriginal heritage
has been so poorly protected in this state as it is, but this
would remove one of the only straws they can clutch. One of the
most exciting things that has come out of the struggle against
this legislation is the beginnings of an alliance between the
environment movement and the Aboriginal community.''

Central to the legislation is the establishment of the Natural
Resources Management Council, which will be responsible for all
public land use (crown land, state forests, national parks and
coastal waters). The council will be stacked heavily in favour
of resource interests.

``All decisions on land use would be taken by the council.
Developers would always, in our view, have a majority on that
body despite the token acknowledgment of conservation concerns
-- there would be a representative from the National Parks and
Wildlife Service, but they would always be out voted.''

Council recommendations would go to Cabinet, where the ultimate
decision would be made. ``We feel there's a double jeopardy,
because on the one hand you've got a stacked council and on
the other, even if it did recommend preservation of particular
areas, nothing binds the government to accept that decision.''

A legacy of the Greiner government, the package of five bills
covers all aspects of public land use and includes:

* The Natural Resources Management Council Bill. This will
replace the environmental provisions and the regional planning
process of the Environmental Planning and Assessments Act 1979
(EPA) and establish the Resources Management Council to review
public land use. Hundreds of thousands of hectares of native
forest will be handed over to logging and woodchip interests if
the bill is passed. Its effect will be to downgrade environment
protection and public participation.

* The Endangered and Other Threatened Species Conservation Bill.
This could be renamed the Extinction Law. It repeals established
licensing powers given to the National Parks and Wildlife
Service, sacks the current independent scientific committee
and replaces it with one stacked by government appointees.
It substitutes a shorter list of those species endangered
nationally for one listing more species under threat
particularly in NSW. It includes ineffective provisions for
recovery plans.

* The Environmental Planning and Assessment (Amendment) Bill.
While the body producing the environmental impact statement
will no longer be the body adjudicating it as under present
legislation, adoption of this provision requires passing all
five laws. The Minister for Planning can secretly change
conditions he has set without involving the community or local
government. The new law fast-tracks critical decisions by
allowing only three months and 21 days to determine projects.

* The Forest (Resource Security) Bill. Forests can be handed
over to the timber industry under long-term contracts with hefty
compensation clauses. Designated Timber Production Forests would
not require environmental impact statements under the EPA, and
there is no protection for endangered species. The majority of
the south-east forests would be made available for resource
security without further assessment.

* The Heritage (Amendment) Bill. The Heritage Act -- covering
the natural environment, the built environment and Aboriginal
heritage -- will no longer apply to the natural environment or
to Aboriginal sites, and permanent conservation orders will no
longer be available. Urban bush land will no longer have legal
protection.  One motive for the new bill was a recent court
decision which found that the government's policy of not
applying the existing Heritage Act to natural areas was illegal.

The November 13 rally will run from noon to 2 p.m. For further
information, ring (02) 247 2228.
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive