PM's “captain's call” disastrous for Tasmania, must not be repeated

Australian Greens Leader Christine Milne says Tony Abbott has once again made a disastrous captain's call in backing his Liberal ideologues on Tasmanian forests, and now risks repeating the mistake.

"The disaster that is the Tasmanian forest industry is clearly at the feet of Tony Abbott with his stupid captain's call. Don't do it again, Prime Minister.

"Forestry Tasmania is never going to get FSC certification and the blame lies squarely with Mr Abbott and Tasmanian Liberals.

"He listened to his blind ideologues like Eric Abetz, Richard Colbeck and Paul Harriss over the advice of the Environment and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Departments.

"It's clear to everybody that it was a stupid policy from the Liberals to try to remove important forest from the World Heritage Area, but the Liberals in Tasmania wanted them logged.

"Tony Abbott went with them against the best advice of the Departments, humiliating Australia on the global stage.

"I'm now calling on Tony Abbott not to do it again. We've got the same ideologues wanting to open up the TWWHA to destructive infrastructure developments that will undermine wilderness values.

"The mismanagement plan put forward by the Tasmanian Liberals for the TWWHA must not be endorsed by Australia and sent up to the World Heritage Committee," said Senator Milne.

"Tasmanians deserve a government that will work to achieve important conservation goals, not just their own backward ideological political goals."