Rudd Axes Forest Policy For Votes

25 July 2007
In a vote-grabbing ploy, Australia’s Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd has abandoned former Labor leader Mark Latham’s conservation policy on forests and brought his party’s position into line with that of the Howard Government.
In defusing Tasmanian forestry as an issue at this year’s federal election, Rudd’s decision underlines the opposition’s determination to win back two marginal seats in the north of the state and the belief it can claim mainland environment votes on the basis of climate change alone.
But there are risks, one being Labor’s chances of securing voting preferences from the Greens.
In his announcement on 23 July, Rudd avoided taking a stance on the Gunns’ proposal to build a controversial $2 billion pulp mill in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley; he will wait until environmental assessments of the plan have been completed.
Rudd’s forest announcement was accompanied by a $20 million package focused on building skills in the forest industry, particularly to promote value-added timber products.
He said federal Labor would not protect any areas outside existing Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) and the Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement.

VAFI Advertises For New Director

The Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI) has advertised for a new state director ahead of CEO Tricia Caswell’s imminent departure.
President Greg McCormack said Caswell would work closely with the VAFI executive full time until the end of the year to ensure there was a seamless succession when a new state director was appointed in the next few months.
Caswell will be work with the new director as a special consultant, building VAFI's relationships with stakeholders, particularly with the Community Council and seminars.
“Tricia is very keen to spend real time developing her own ideas and projects around sustainability more broadly,” McCormack said.


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