THE Opposition’s forestry spokesman, Collie-Preston MLA Mick Murray, said a state Labor Government would ban the clear felling of native forests to provide fuel for the generation of electricity.
But he would make no promises to halt logging of native forest or clear felling in those areas.
“Arcadia has been on the radar of the FPC to be logged for some time,” Mr Murray said.
There were concerns about the salinity impact on the Wellington Weir and these had not been worked through, he said.
He was also concerned about logging in quokka and numbat habitat.
“I have spent many hours in the bush around Collie and never seen a numbat,” he said. “That shows how scarce they are.”
Returning to the biomass issue, Mr Murray said WA Labor supported the use of woody biomass as an energy source, but it was vital to ensure native forests were not regarded as a fuel source for any new bio-energy plants planned for WA.
“All the evidence shows that our native forests are under enough threat from our drying climate as well as diseases such as dieback and marri canker,” Mr Murray said.
“WA Labor's position makes it clear that the logging of native forests just to get fuel to burn in power stations is unacceptable.”
The announcement followed the defeat in Federal Parliament of moves by the Liberals and Nationals to provide a financial incentive to burn native timber to generate electricity.
