Representing Mainstream Rural Concern

The Western Rivers Preservation Trust is a non political organisation not affiliated with any political party, group or politician. The Trust represents community concerns relating to the contamination of water, and other forestry impacts.

We estimate about 80% of rural people to be either concerned or alarmed about the damage forestry plantation Managed Investment Schemes (MIS) are doing to our economy, environment, health, and sustainability. With the huge amounts of tax exempted money given to them, ($1.4B quoted for 2005/6 financial year) MIS Corporations are closing down rural economies, jobs, and infrastructure. They easily outbid genuine farmers who do not receive tax free “investments,” and have to work hard to earn their land purchase capital and pay their taxes.

This grossly unfair Federal Government policy is not based on any credible economic rationale. It is replacing sustainable, high value, agriculture with unsustainable, low value, pulp or pine plantations. Family farms are lost or destroyed, and the land is stripped of its fertility by unsustainable forestry plantations.

When will our Federal politicians wake up and remove the unfair market distorting 100% tax deductibility of “investments” in MIS plantation forestry?

This is a CURRENT and ONGOING NATIONAL DISASTER, yet still Senator Eric Abetz, the Minister for Forestry, is making untrue and misleading statements, trying to defend what is undefendable.

Will swift action be taken? Why are we closing down our rural communities, and transferring the Nation’s farmland to absentee, and most likely eventually Multinational Corporations, with no need to be interested in Tasmania’s people, environment, health, sustainability, or economy.

Many try hard to see any proper logic or benefit coming from these MIS forestry plantations, and are left bewildered. Nor can we understand why our Federal Government would give up huge amounts of much needed taxes to diminish our rural economy on a national level. This unprofitable and unsustainable use of good farmland is planned to be on a long-term ongoing basis, snowballing further taxation revenue losses, and increasing food costs because of the distorted higher prices for good high rainfall farmland due to MIS “investment” forestry interference in market forces.