This is a report of a meeting between a National Party Timber Industry lobbyist* wanting to set up an wood biomass to energy plant at his Kempsey mill and Federal MP Rob Oakeshott.
In referring to wood biomass as ‘renewable’ energy the lobbyist admits its ‘one disadvantage is the production of carbon dioxide’.
The National Party timber industry lobbyist had said that ‘the country’s current political climate meant biomass was being ignored as a renewable energy source – particularly woody biomass’ and reported that “Rob requested further specific detail of where industry felt legislative conflict may be present and undertook to test the validity of these fears.”
This resulted in the infamous disallowance motion whereby MP Rob Oakeshott moved a motion in parliament to ‘disallow’ a bill that would have closed the loophole that allows native forest wood biomass to be burnt and subsidised as ‘renewable’ energy.
Though unsuccessful at the time, when the Abbot government came to power in 2015 the legislative conflict was resolved by the Coalition defining burning native wood biomass an eligible for of energy to be subsidised as ‘renewable’.
The lobbyist stated in 2012 “I think there’s been a deliberate attempt to suppress information about biomass and its potential,” he said. However Australian scientists (in an open letter to the MP urging him to resist industry pressure to keep the loophole open that permits burning forests to be regarded as carbon neutral), stated: ‘Biomass is a dirty fuel. In the United States, leading Medical Societies and health advocacy groups have called for a ban on biomass power plants as they pose an unacceptable risk to the public’s health by increasing air pollution. Burning hundreds of thousands of tonnes of native forests will generate dangerous emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and sulphur dioxide.’
* The National Party Timber Industry lobbyist is Douglas Head who has held several positions in both the National Party and as a spokesman for timber industry lobby groups. In 2003 he was executive spokesman for the Forest Industry Alliance (FIA) lobby group. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/05/1046826433184.html
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