I am very pleased to announce an Agreement between the Australian and Tasmanian Governments that builds on the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement, securing the future of Tasmania's forest industries and providing enhanced protection for its unique forests. As a result of this Agreement, forest related industries will remain a large part of Tasmania's economy in the decades ahead.
The Australian Government went to the last election with a commitment to increase reserves of Tasmania's old growth forests and preserve the jobs of timber and forestry workers.
We made a commitment to work with the Tasmanian Government within the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) processes and protect the interests of all stakeholders. We made commitments to invest in the Tasmanian timber industry, and to a $51.8 million package of measures to revitalize the industry, to provide it with a sustainable future. We committed to ensuring no jobs in the timber and forestry industry would be lost. We also committed to add 170, 000 hectares of old growth forests to reserves, which would result in over 1 million hectares held in reserves.
The Agreement the government has reached with the Tasmanian Government delivers on all these commitments.
* 1 million hectares of old growth forest will be protected including very significant new reserves in the Tarkine and the Styx.
* The Australian and Tasmanian Governments will together invest over $250 million in programmes to support industry, jobs, communities and the environment.
* Both Governments are confident that existing jobs are protected, and indeed more jobs will be created.
* The Agreement has been negotiated within the RFA framework, and delivers a comprehensive and balanced package that provides a secure future for the Tasmanian forest industry and the communities it supports.
The Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement provides for substantial increases in reservation of old growth forests. It provides additional protection to over 180,000 hectares of forest on public and private land. The Agreement delivers nationally and internationally significant conservation outcomes. It preserves highly significant tracts of temperate rainforest in the Tarkine, adds new reserves in the Styx Valley to protect the tallest trees in the world, and increases levels of reservation for many important forest types. In addition, a new Forest Conservation Fund will seek to reserve over 45,000 hectares of forest on private land through voluntary sale or covenanting.
These new measures build on the significant achievements in the 1997 RFA and ensure that 1 million hectares of old growth forests will be reserved. The new Agreement means that 45 per cent of Tasmania's 1996 forest cover will be protected forever.
Importantly, these outcomes will be achieved while protecting the jobs of Tasmanian timber and forestry workers. The Australian and Tasmanian Governments will invest over $250 million to strengthen the Tasmanian forest industry and environment, to build new job opportunities, and to enhance significantly Tasmania's 'sustainable forestry' brand internationally.
The Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement is supported by over $150 million in new spending from the Australian Government, focused on providing support for industry to secure its future. The Australian Government will provide $42 million to the hardwood timber industry to retool and adapt to new log mixes, more than was committed in our election package. We will also deliver on our commitment to provide $4 million to meet the special needs of country sawmills. The Australian Government will also provide $10 million to the softwood industry to aid investment in environmentally friendly best practices and improve efficiency.
The package includes a significant investment, $115 million, by both Governments to improve plantation productivity and to provide additional wood supplies to ensure the provision of high quality logs into the future.
Through the Agreement Governments are providing a targeted package of assistance to the sawmills in the north-west and west to address the reduction in red myrtle from the reserves in the Tarkine and ensure they can prosper into the future, and to the special species and honey industries.
The Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement includes several significant changes that will ensure its timber industry leads the world in environmental best practice standards, thus securing its future.
The Agreement will significantly reduce clearfelling of old growth forest. By 2010, only about 20 per cent of the old growth harvested each year will be clearfelled. New harvesting techniques will be introduced to conserve biodiversity. This measure provides an important step forward on what has been a significant issue for the Tasmanian community.
The broad scale clearing of native vegetation is one of the most significant issues affecting Tasmania's natural environment. Our Governments concluded that the issue needed to be dealt with in a comprehensive and balanced way to protect the legitimate interests of landholders, secure the environment, and build Tasmania's credentials as a supplier of sustainable natural products.
The Agreement includes a cap on native forest clearing and conversion of 95 per cent of Tasmania's 1996 vegetation cover. Clearing of native forests will be phased out over five years on public land and over ten years on private land. In the meantime, clearing assessment criteria will ensure the protection of environmental values. The phase out will not affect sustainable logging operations.
Overall this provides a balanced outcome that provides for appropriate levels of further clearing while ensuring environmental values are preserved. Landowners will be able to access the Australian Government's Forest Conservation Fund, a voluntary market based programme which offers an opportunity to sell or covenant private land to form reserves to complement those on public land.
The above changes to land clearing policy on native forests and the reduction in clearfelling of old growth forests, together with the security provided by the RFA and the supplement that has been signed today, will establish the environment for Tasmania to secure large new forest-related investments, such as the proposed pulp mill. The Australian Government is prepared to provide $5 million towards the project costs associated with an environmental best practice pulp mill.
The Australian Government is also delivering in full on its election commitments to save the Tasmanian devil, to undertake river catchment water quality auditing and to develop a Tarkine bush walk. Additional funds will be available to underwrite a number of other tourist ventures, to help show the rest of Australia, and the international tourist market, the wonders of the Tasmanian landscape. Use of 1080 on public land will be banned from the end of 2005. Australian Government funds will be used to fast-track development of alternatives to its use on private land.
The Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement will benefit Tasmania's timber communities. A revitalised timber industry and a world-class forest reserve system will secure the future of the many small communities that depend on the forest industries. The Agreement includes specific support for special species and honey producers and country sawmills. The Agreement will enhance Tasmania as a tourism destination, and the package contains support for tourism developments to showcase the new reserves. It demonstrates that timber and tourism can co-exist to create a secure future for country towns.
The Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement secures a way forward for Tasmania's forests. It represents a win for the environment and for the forest industry and the timber workers it supports. It promises a sustainable future for Tasmania.