Photos of the way HVP is logging the Strzeleckis
6 May 2008
The latest photos of Hancock Victorian Plantations logging practicesin the Strzeleckis can be seen at http://www.hancock.forests.org.au/docs/08may.htm plus some of the latest press coverage.
Tags:
hancocks, rainforest, strzeleckis
Posted at: 02:57 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Deadline on Strzelecki deal still rubbery
3 May 2008
The deadline of May 2 imposed by Hancocks to finalise the deal for the Victorian State Government to buy-back the Cores & Links in the Strzeleckis has passed - but apparently the Government and the company are still talking.
It's hard to get any information out of them as the community has been excluded from the continuing negotiations. All we know from Minister Jennings' staff is that they "are in discussions to meet the Government's election commitments."
The deal won't be acceptable unless it broadly accords with the Heads of Agreement which was signed by all parties prior to the lengthy negotiations which led to the arrangement approved by the previous Environment Minister, John Thwaites, to hand over $7 million to the company to protect the key areas. The plan was announced as Government policy to establish a reserve which would be managed by Trust for Nature. That is still a non-negotiable position.
Persistent rumours from DS&E have been floating around for months that the Minister is preparing to hand the Cores and Links area over to Vic Forest (after it has been logged by Hancocks to meet the shortfall it claims it has in its contractual obligations to the Maryvale Pulp Mill). The 'shortfall' is one of those...
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Tags:
hancocks, logging, strzeleckis
Posted at: 12:48 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Time running out on Strzelecki deal
29 Apr 2008
Friends of the Earth and Friends of Gippsland Bush have announced concerns that the Cores and Links Deal to save Strzelecki Rainforest is no closer to resolution 18 months after a Heads of Agreement to protect the area was signed. Hancock Victorian Plantations (HVP) and the State Government have until May 2 to sort out the deal before a recently extended deadline collapses.
FoE spokesman Anthony Amis said; "We're still in the dark. I mentioned to Minister Jennings' advisors three weeks ago that a round table meeting with all parties present would be the best way to go. I thought it a good idea to talk our way through this, but apparently this idea has fallen on deaf ears. We fear that a deal without community support will severely undermine the ecological integrity of the region."
"FoE has already expressed concern that HVP and DSE had cooked up a deal between themselves prior to the community even being involved in the process. This has been confirmed by a recent Freedom of Information (FoI) Request which explicity shows that DSE and HVP had agreed on 3 options several days before the community was first invited in to negotiations in May 2006."
"The...
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Tags:
hancocks, logging, rainforest, strzeleckis
Posted at: 04:00 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Revelations soon on the Strzeleckis
13 Mar 2008
It will soon become clear who has done what to whom on the Strzelecki's fiasco!
Requests for details of actions, under Freedom of Information were lodged by Friends of the Earth, and copies of letters and emails should be available in the next day or so.
It's hard to wait, because much of the duplicity is already known. Government employees have actively worked against the implementation of Government policy - but the details need to be made public before demands are made for the right heads to roll.
Roll on!
Tags:
hancocks, logging, strzeleckis, trust for nature
Posted at: 06:58 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Groups Angry over Delays in Finalising Strzelecki Reserve
4 Mar 2008
Community groups, Friends of Gippsland Bush and Friends of the Earth today expressed concern that negotiations over the buy-back of key rainforest and wet forests of the Strzelecki Ranges continue to stall. The Reserve was announced by Environment Minister John Thwaites in October 2006 (the new Environment Minister is Gavin Jennings) and is still official Labor Party Policy.
Groups are upset that Hancock Victorian Plantations continue to log contentious rainforest areas in the cores and links, without community input, which is in breach of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in October 2006. The groups have documented many breaches to the HoA committed by Hancock over the past 17 months.
"The way the community has been treated by the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Hancock has been absolutely disgraceful" said Friends of the Earth spokesman Anthony Amis. "Almost every effort to negotiate an outstanding win for the biodiversity of the region, has been thwarted and undermined by the DSE who are opposing any moves that Trust for Nature manage the area as Reserve. DSE want to take control in order to log the reserve themselves" Mr Amis said. "We've had to put up with 17 months of...
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Tags:
hancocks, logging, rainforest, wood chips
Posted at: 04:15 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Time for heads to roll over Strzelecki scandal
11 Feb 2008
The pussy-footing around has to stop. The State Government made a decision well over a year ago to buy-back the Cores and Links from Hancocks for $7 million and the deal still hasn't been finalised because some of the staff in DS&E didn't like the Government policy.
What does it have to do with them? Isn't their role to carry out Government policy? If the Minister (Gavin Jennings) has dumped the policy, why won't he announce the change? If he hasn't, he needs to chop some of the deadwood in his Department who have been actively working against him.
Although it wasn't perfect, the community, including local Shires accepted the deal, the company approved it and Trust for Nature had worked to ensure it was successful.
Get on with it Minister!
Tags:
hancocks, logging, strzeleckis
Posted at: 07:31 AM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
