Senator SANDERS(4.58) —I had to laugh at the last comment from Senator Michael Baume, who said that, because the Government does it, there is nothing obscene about the process of clear-felling. I have never heard him agree with the Government before and, furthermore, I think that many people would object to that comment about clear-felling. It is a very destructive use of a forest resource.

In speaking to the Australian Capital Territory Forestry Trust Account annual report, I note that there are some 15,000 hectares of softwood plantation. Plantation growth of wood for commercial use is one of the linchpins of the conservation or environmental movement's drive to preserve native forests in Australia. There is an outcry in the public about the use of native forests for wood pulp, woodchips and other uses and there is certainly a case to be made for the plantation growth of wood. Unfortunately, in the ACT, this plantation has denuded the hills of the native forests that previously existed and, as such, this is a retrograde step. Plantations should be established on derelict farmland or farmland of low productive capacity so that the native forests can be saved. To strip the native forests from the hills and put in plantations as has been done in the ACT has two detrimental impacts. One, of course, is the loss of the native forest itself and the habitat that it provides for animals and birds. The pine forests which replace them are austere places, deserts, as far as wildlife is concerned, because nothing is adapted to live there. In the United States, where I come from and where the pinus radiata comes from, there is a whole ecosystem based on that pine tree. But here there is none and these forests are sterile. The other impact arises from what the pine trees themselves do to the soil. They deplete the soil. It is not possible to get very much more than three, four or maybe five rotations before the soil is sterile. It makes far more sense to do two different things. One is to use the farmland, as I have said. The other, if farmers must put in plantations, is to use hardwood such as native eucalypts for their plantation wood type.

We have gone through a cultural cringe in wood use in Australia. The native forests were considered trash and softwoods were the flavour of the month, even the year. Hardwoods are now coming into their own. The Japanese, for instance, favour hardwood. I was in Tasmania over the weekend and talked to a friend in the craft wood industry. He has made items out of Huon pine, sassafras, and also Tasmanian oak, which is a hardwood eucalypt species. He said that the Japanese were keener to buy Tasmanian oak, the hardwood, than any other type of wood. We should promote our hardwoods more for what they are, which is a very durable and good species to use.

Our plantations should be more oriented towards hardwoods than softwoods. Softwoods certainly have a place in the construction industry but there are difficulties in growing them. In the south-eastern forests of New South Wales we could very much look to the admitted success of the plantation system in the ACT. Although I do not agree with the type of wood used, certainly the plantation system has been a success. If the State of New South Wales were to undertake this type of plantation in south-eastern New South Wales there would be no need to go in and woodchip in areas around Tantawangalo, Coolangubra and other areas of the National Estate.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

The ACTING DEPUTY PRESIDENT (Senator Bjelke-Petersen) —The time allowed for the consideration of Government papers has now expired.