May 13, 2013
Sean Nicholls
Sydney Morning Herald State Political Editor
Contentious: A parliamentary inquiry has recommended logging in national parks.
Logging would be allowed in NSW national parks and a freeze imposed on the declaration of new conservation areas under recommendations of a state government-dominated parliamentary inquiry.
An upper house committee into land use chaired by the Shooters and Fishers Party MP Robert Brown has made the recommendations in a draft report, obtained by Fairfax Media.
The report says the government should ”immediately” consider opening national parks and other reserved areas for logging to ensure the viability of the timber industry.
The report urges the government to consider the possibility of a ”tenure swap” between national parks and state forests, meaning sections of parks would be opened for logging and state forests, which are already subject to logging in NSW, would be reserved in return.
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