Interview with Leon Compton, ABC Tasmania Mornings

Minister, good morning to you. MURRAY WATT, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: G'day, Leon. Good to talk to you again.

LEON COMPTON: So what changes, Minister? The feds have a greater say in the standards Tasmanian forestry happens to. What actually changes in reality?

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, so what we've done through our reforms to the federal environmental law, Leon, is essentially bring the forestry industry in line with every other industry in Australia, in the sense that if forestry activities are likely to have a significant impact on matters that we protect at a national level, then they need to be assessed and approved by the federal government.

Right now, if someone in Tasmania wants to build a mine or a wind farm or a housing development that's going to significantly impact on those nationally protected environmental matters, they need to have a federal assessment and approval. That hasn't been required for forestry activities undertaken through RFAs in the past. Now that will be required.

So as I say, it’s really about that level playing field. LEON COMPTON: So, these will be tougher standards, most likely. Could it be that they're so tough that forestry just can't happen in Tasmania?

MURRAY WATT: Well, it's a little hard to predict that right now because we are literally in the middle of drafting those standards. Right now, we have put out for consultation four new national environmental standards. We've never had them before.

The consultation period is closed on two and it's just begun on the other two. So we are aiming to have those four standards drafted in the next couple of months, which will obviously provide a lot more clarity to this industry and every other industry. But even from those standards that we've issued, people have got a bit of a sense of what's going to be required.

I mean, there are different people out there saying that the standards are going to be too high. Some people saying they're going to be too low. You know, I think that reflects the political position that some of those people have.

But we are literally working through those now and there'll be a lot more certainty about that over the next couple of months. LEON COMPTON: Could it be, Senator, that the standards that you will set make it difficult or impossible for forestry of- regrowth forest, native forest logging in Tasmania to continue? MURRAY WATT: We don't expect the standards to result in the total closure of native forestry in Tasmania.

And I remember, Leon, when we spoke about this soon after the reforms were passed, I made that point at the time as well. LEON COMPTON: But also this was a negotiation, and I'm glad you remember that conversation. It's really important to our audience in regional Tasmania.

There were members of the Greens who had negotiated this new approach with you who were confident that as in Victoria and Western Australia ending native forest logging, that your oversight to higher standards would lead to the same outcome here, Senator? MURRAY WATT: Yeah, well, I remember actually at the time, both members of the Greens party and members of the Liberal Party were both running around Tasmania saying that this would close native forestry.

Of course, they had different reasons for saying so, but no one has yet been able to point to me anywhere in the legislation that says that is going to happen. It's a political claim being made by Greens and Liberals. What will happen, as I say, is that for the first time, forestry undertaken through RFAs, whether that be native forestry or plantation, will be required to meet national standards in the same way that every other industry is required to do.

Now, we will be working with the industry about what that means and the workers in that industry. You know, there will be different people who have views about whether the standards are too high or too low, but fundamentally what this is about is making sure that forestry in RFA states does meet those national standards like every other industry has to do. LEON COMPTON: But again, I'll ask this one more time and we'll move on because there will be sawmillers listening right around Tasmania who'll be extremely interested in this answer.

Could it be that the standards will be set at a level that preclude native forest logging in this state into the future? MURRAY WATT: No, we don't believe that the standards will result in the total closure of the native forestry industry. That is not the position of the Labor Party.

I know it's the position of the Greens Party, but it's not the position of the Labor Party. LEON COMPTON: Could it result in a significant reduction of areas that are available for native forest logging compared to what exists at the moment? MURRAY WATT: Well, I think I might have said to you previously, Leon, that time both in this portfolio and when I was the forestry minister, I've had many people from the Tasmanian forestry industry tell me how fantastic their environmental standards are.

If that is the case, then they have nothing to fear from national standards being brought in. But we are doing that work right now to determine and settle exactly what those standards are. And again, I make the point that we're not going to be asking forestry to do anything different to what we're asking of miners, wind farm developers, solar developers and housing property developers.

LEON COMPTON: 936 ABC Hobart, ABC Northern Tasmania, always good when the Federal Environment Minister joins us. We appreciate that. We know you've got to go in a few minutes' time.

Senator, how concerned are you, if at all, that Tasmania might be in the process of locking sawmillers or offering sawmillers contracts, guaranteed contracts for supply that simply won't be deliverable under your new standards coming in in 12 months' time? And that what might well be significant compensation will then become- you've heard the concerns from some that this is happening live right now.

MURRAY WATT: Yeah, I mean, for starters, we don't believe that federal compensation will be required. We believe that we are able to make these changes under the terms of the Regional Forestry Agreement and its legislation. But more broadly, people have known in Tasmania for years that the Tasmanian Government had a looming problem when it came to the supply of timber under contracts beyond 2027.

It's not about having now brought in national standards that has changed that situation. This has been a problem that the Tasmanian Government has had to deal with for years. I saw this morning you had one of the millers on the program and I think he was making the point that these negotiations have been going on for three years.

So I think it would be a bit of a furphy for anyone, whether it be in the industry, the government, anywhere, to be blaming changes at the federal level for a problem that has been known about for a long time. LEON COMPTON: Yeah, even Rachel Fisher in news headlines this morning – and stay listening at 9 o’clock for more on this – expressed concerns from a sawmiller- or questions that compensation would be required if supply is restricted under these new deals.

So you’d be frustrated if contracts were being signed now that run over 10 or more years for supply delivery out of our forest, that just weren’t compliant with your new federal regulation? MURRAY WATT: Well, I guess anyone who’s involved in those negotiations should remember that we are developing these standards, that they will apply after 1 July 2027, and that’s something that should be taken into account when negotiating those standards.

As I say, it’s been a long running issue here in Tasmania. If there’s compensation payable under those contracts because the Tasmanian Government can’t supply the timber needed, that’s a problem that existed well before we made any changes to federal law. LEON COMPTON: Appreciate you coming on this morning.

Thank you as ever. MURRAY WATT: No worries, Leon. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.

We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.