Labour logging policy criticised

Press, 24 April 1984, Page 5

Labour logging policy criticised

PA Dunedin Labour’s proposal to stop logging in ali virgin indigenous State forests was criticised yesterday by the Minister of Forests, Mr Elworthy. Mr Elworthy said the Labour Party’s spokesman on the environment, Dr Michael Cullen, who released the first section of his party’s environment policy yesterday, should go to Minginui and tell the 600 people there they would have to leave town because there would be no jobs. “He should go to Harihari and Whataroa and tell the people there will be no jobs and no community with a sudden rundown of logging,” Mr Elworthy said. “He should know the cost of

this.” The Minister said the Whirinaki cut would reduce to 5000 cubic metres a year and this would be mainly of old and wind blown trees. “Next Saturday I am going to declare Whirinaki a State forest at a function in Minginui,” he said. Dr Cullen should know that in South Westland, contracts would run out in 1989 and he would obviously be breaking such contracts with the sawmillers. Mr Elworthy said that if Dr Cullen did his homework he would know that there was to be a reduction from 80,000 to 8000 cubic metres a year after the contracts ran out. This was a sustainable yield for the Saltwater and North Okarito forests.