An Australia Institute poll of 1000 Australian voters shows a 4:1 majority oppose native forest logging (65% compared with 16%). Making the poll public today, the Bob Brown Foundation says it has written to both Labor leader Anthony Albanese and Prime Minister Scott Morrison calling for federal powers to be used to protect the nation’s remaining native forests which are vital habitat for many species of birds, animals and plants threatened with extinction. A decisive majority of Coalition and Labor voters, as well as Greens voters, back ending the logging.

“The public is right on side for Australia to follow New Zealand which banned native forest logging in 2002 and which has an ongoing plantation industry meeting its timber needs,” Bob Brown said in Hobart today.

“In the run up to the global conference on climate change in Glasgow, it would be a domestic and international winner for Australia to end the logging. That would make a huge reduction in the greenhouse gases released when these ancient forests are felled and burnt and would also be a giant stride towards reversing the road to extinction for iconic species like Koalas, Leadbeater’s Possums, Greater Gliders, Swift Parrots, Black Cockatoos, and both Masked and Powerful Owls,” Brown said.

“Western Australia has shown the way. But it can’t be left to state governments alone. This requires coordinated national action and can be achieved at much less than 1% of the cost of the PM’s nuclear submarines,” he said.

The Greens back saving Australia’s native forests.

Copy of poll

Bob Brown Foundation has described news that Venture Minerals has once again shelved its Riley Creek strip mine in takayna as bittersweet, pointing out that the company should never have been allowed to gamble with Tasmania’s outstanding wild places.

"There will be a lot of egg on faces today. Analysts, economists and environmentalists all warned that this was a high risk mine with every likelihood of yet another failure, and today we have seen Venture shove some cash in their pocket and disappear into the sunset with all their promises, leaving us with another post-mine wasteland," said Bob Brown Foundation takayna Campaigner Scott Jordan.

"Tasmania’s Mining Minister Guy Barnett, Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley, and the Director of the EPA have been the getaway drivers, playing roles in removing safeguard approval conditions that have allowed Venture to transport ore to port. Each of them should act immediately to suspend Venture's mine leases, seize assets and limit the public exposure to this collapse,” Scott Jordan said.

“Venture Minerals are still proposing to target a rainforest reserve in takayna with their much bigger mine at Mt Lindsay. If allowed to proceed, this mine would annihilate a significant tract of Australia’s largest temperate rainforests,” Scott Jordan said.

"Tasmanians have opposed this mine since it was first floated. The public stood up where the government failed. We thank all the Tasmanians who have stood up against this travesty,” Scott Jordan said.

A global event, Big Canopy Campout will commence this weekend with 183 campouts that explore defending and protecting wild places from the tip tops of tall trees. Every year, Bob Brown Foundation brings together tree climbers and avid forest-loving enthusiasts to celebrate, climb, explore and adore some of the most sacred, yet most threatened, treasures of the plant kingdom that exist in lutruwita / Tasmania. These passionate, conservation-minded community members join us and our inspiring counterparts all over the planet to learn, share and teach about the protection of our wild places. This year Bob Brown Foundation will host their campout in takayna’s threatened forests on 22-24 October.

"Since the inception of Big Canopy Campout four year ago, our Foundation has been involved in helping curate this worldwide event in our remarkable cool temperate rainforests of lush, mossy myrtle wonderlands and tall eucalypts. These threatened Tasmanian forests are spectacular at every level and awe inspiring for every person involved. This year, the global event is taking a stand in solidarity with the Ecuadorian Amazon SËRA Foundation and their struggle to defend and protect their lands from being stolen. They live in a 50,000-acre fragment of rainforest, surrounded by oil exploitation and oil-palm monoculture plantations," said Bob Brown Foundation's Erik Hayward.

"Here in lutruwita / Tasmania, we will be showcasing the spectacular canopy-scapes threatened by industrial scale mining and logging. Over the next month, we will be showcasing campouts happening all over the world and highlight the ongoing destruction of our globally significant carbon stores, magnificent, ancient and wild places,” Erik Hayward said.

“We look forward to hosting people at our Big Canopy Campout in takayna. There there will be workshops during the event showcasing climbing methods, with talks, guided walks and citizen science surveys. All are welcome to join us for this event, camping amongst the trees and occupying the canopies of these incredible, fragile places to defend them," concluded Mr Hayward.

Thirteen takayna defenders turned up at court this week to face charges after participating in protests earlier this year in takayna / Tarkine with Bob Brown Foundation. There were no charges to answer and they were told to leave the court. The thirteen are among seventy citizens who were arrested after protesting against the proposed heavy metals tailings dump by Chinese state-owned mining company MMG. One of the protesters facing court this week was renowned Tasmanian writer and scholar, Pete Hay.

“Our Foundation welcomes that the charges have been dropped against these thirteen takayna defenders. The protection of Australia’s largest temperate rainforests and prevention of illegal works in a World Heritage value area should not be left to the citizens however when there is a threat of destruction of these incredible ecosystems we will be there with the community to defend and protect takayna,” Campaign Manager Jenny Weber said.

Bob Brown Foundation has rebuffed claims by Venture Minerals that they want a carbon neutral mine at Mt Lindsay as amateurish greenwash. Venture's proposed Mt Lindsay mine would be situated in the Meredith Range Regional Reserve in the southern reaches of takayna /Tarkine.

"It's about the rainforests, stupid," said takayna /Tarkine Campaigner Scott Jordan.

"Venture plans to erase a huge area of carbon rich, ancient rainforest for a mine with an 8 year life, and they want us to believe that them tinkering with vehicle emissions will balance the ledger?"

"The rainforest carbon stores that Venture will release at Mt Lindsay have built over millennia. Wet temperate rainforests - and Mt Lindsay represents some of the best - are among the most carbon dense forests on the planet. You can't fix that by changing your trucks".

"If Venture was serious about a carbon neutral future they would walk away from projects in takayna /Tarkine at Mt Lindsay and abandon plans to clear the remaining three strip mine stages at Riley Creek. Everything else is snake oil".

Venture's Riley Creek mine is currently mining the first of four stages to be cleared and strip mined. 

A protest is underway in Tasmania’s northwest town of Burnie against the mining of takayna / Tarkine.

Two takayna defenders have peacefully intervened in the transport of iron ore from a storage yard to the Burnie port where Venture Minerals first shipment out of takayna is being loaded.

Frits and Patsy Harmsen are seated in front of the shed locked to each other to interrupt the transport of takayna ore. Both decades long conservationists, Frits (78) is a musician retired from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Patsy (76) is an industrial hemp pioneer.

“At Riley creek in takayna / Tarkine, Venture Minerals is scraping the Earth back for iron ore to export to China. The company is hopeful exports out of their controversial Riley creek mine will raise the capital to build a second, much bigger, even more destructive mine inside a rainforest reserve in takayna,” Bob Brown Foundation Campaign Manager Jenny Weber said.

“If allowed to proceed, mining at Mt Lindsay, inside the Meredith Range Regional Reserve, would prove Tasmania’s dangerously deficient reserve status for vast areas of takayna mean nothing. All Regional Reserves and Conservation Areas across Tasmania allow for logging and mining,” Jenny Weber said.

“Mining in this region would impact on its biodiversity values including on the threatened Tasmanian devil and on the significant temperate rainforest, some of the last in the world,” Jenny Weber said.

“The Mt Lindsay mine, if it proceeds, threatens a vast tract of globally significant natural values. There is nowhere else in Australia where such large tracts of temperate rainforests still remain. takayna / Tarkine is the stronghold of callidendrous (tall) rainforests with Nothofagus species that had ancestors that lived on the Gondwana supercontinent,” Jenny Weber said.

Three women were arrested this morning for trespass including Rose Sheehan who locked onto a ladder at the Burnie Wharf preventing the arrival of a ship destined to berth to transport ore from takayna / Tarkine. Elsewhere in Burnie where the ore is being stored to transport to the ship, another three women were arrested after participating in nonviolent direct action, including Colette Harmsen, Viola Barnes and Claire Brownhill.

“Our campaign continues to raise the alarm about the ongoing destruction of one of Tasmania’s forgotten treasures, takayna / Tarkine. We are not going to back down on this internationally significant battle for an intact carbon sink that provides critical habitat for rare and endangered species,” Bob Brown Foundations Jenny Weber said.

“Venture minerals has its sight set on a new underground mine at Mt Lindsay. Threatening world heritage value vast tracts of takayna rainforests that are 'reserved' but available for mining. Mt Lindsay is very accessible for tourism and has rainforest, waterfalls and scenic open buttongrass plains. It is a delightful part of the Tarkine which should be listed for World Heritage not tin mining,” Jenny Weber said.

“Venture Minerals will siphon most of the profits from ruining Mt Lindsay’s naturalness out of Tasmania. When Tasmania would reap far greater benefits from secure protection of Mt Lindsay and all the threatened rainforests of takayna,” Jenny Weber said.

Bob Brown Foundation is calling on the Gutwein government to return the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service to its former independence as a department. This follows yesterday’s announcement that the Environment Protection Authority is to be separated from Primary Industries.

“Environmentally-oriented National Parks and Wildlife looks after more of the state than any other bureaucracy, especially now it has been given governance of a large slab of former Forestry territory. And the fact that it is currently a subset of the commercially-oriented Tourism, makes for real conflicts of interest,” Bob Brown said today.

“The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, and the suite of other wonderful National Parks, are Tasmania’s future fame and fortune. But they need powerful management to protect the wild and scenic values which justify Tasmania’s world fame for naturalness. This cannot be guaranteed if the National Parks and Wildlife Service is effectively in the hands of vested interests. That is not in the public interest,” Brown said.

Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein should match his WA counterpart and immediately announce an end to native forest logging in the island state, Bob Brown Foundation’s Campaign Manager Jenny Weber said in Hobart today.

“WA is following New Zealand which went entirely over to plantations in 2002. Victoria has committed to ending old growth logging by 2030. There is a real danger of Tasmania being held up to ridicule as the last state swinging chainsaws in native forests. As this age of mass extinctions of wildlife and the climate emergency grips the world, this will threaten Tasmania’s brand like no previous forest issue,” Jenny Weber said.

“Just two weeks ago our foundation joined 60 other environment groups calling for a nation-wide end to native forest logging and polls show that’s what most Australians want.”

“Meanwhile, instead of taking a leaf out of WA’s book, it looks like the Gutwein Government is ramping up the future likelihood of jailing peaceful forest defenders. Gutwein can follow McGowan’s lead on recognising ending native forest logging is important in the fight against climate change,” Jenny Weber said.

“Our Foundation is campaigning for an end to native forest logging across Australia for their critical role in mitigating the inextricably linked climate and biodiversity crisis. Governments, both Federal and State should take immediate action to stop the ongoing destruction and begin the restoration of Australia’s unique native forests that are home to many rare and endangered species,” Jenny Weber said.

Tourism Industry Council Tasmania’s CEO Luke Martin shows that his business bosses have elitism, not the preservation of Tasmania’s wilderness, in mind with his assertion that the taxpayer-funded $40 million walk in the Tyndall Range “will bring a whole new type of visitor to the West Coast”, Bob Brown Foundations Jenny Weber said today.

“This is another giant step to privatising and degrading Tasmania’s wilderness for the rich, with ordinary Tasmanians unable to afford the privatised guided walks. They do not have the average family in mind here,” Jenny Weber said.

“Meanwhile, there are 2000km of tracks in Tasmania’s National Parks that are derelict and lacking maintenance while the government featherbeds the rich. While our National Parks and Wildlife Service is severely underfunded, government handouts will sell off the public commons,” Jenny Weber said.

“With that $40 million, the Gutwein government could have funded the much longer and more diverse Trans Tarkine Track for the West Coast, as earlier proposed by Bob Brown Foundation, creating more jobs and with a wider spin-off for West Coast businesses,” Jenny Weber said.

“Our proposal has the added advantage of ensuring tourists could be hosted by Aboriginal rangers, bringing Aboriginal knowledge to the experience,” Jenny Weber said.

“If Premier Gutwein is serious about advancing the West Coast as an outdoors destination, which we back, he will accompany this track plan with making the Tyndall Range a national park and including it in the internationally-famous Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. That should be a given. This has been requested by the Tasmanian conservation movement since the 1970s,” Jenny Weber said.

“A wilderness impact statement of this proposal, including the two accommodation premises at the largely undisturbed Tyndall Range is required and should be released publicly,” Jenny Weber said.