NSW forestry agency should be shut down for repeatedly breaking law, critics argue | New South Wales

A former judge and one of the most experienced scientists in Australia launched an unusual attack on New South Wales The government registration agency, describing it as an effective “criminal organization” that must be closed after a series of court condemnation.

Professor David Hillbern, a New South Wales judge between 1998 and 2020 and now the Dean of Law at the University of Souton Cross, said that the Forsari company in the state must be “resolved” because it is no longer decent for the purpose.

The company was convicted of more than ten environmental crimes, including the ruling in the Land and Environment Court last year, which found that the agency was likely to restore its framework and had bad prospects for rehabilitation.

“If they are the Becky group, they will be a criminal organization. Anyone who has this number of condemnation, the colloquial is to call them a criminal organization.”

“Are they a criminal organization in the meaning of the legislation?

A spokesman for the Forsari Foundation in New South Wales said that Hillbern’s proposal to compare the company to its comparison with a “ridiculous” gang was “silly”. And they said, “Forestry Corporation will not respond to this measurement.”

“When the violations occurred, it was unintended and without malice. Forestry Corporation is charged with deepening any violations and invested greatly in compliance systems and operations to reduce the space of human or technological errors.”

Hillbern’s comments follow a ruling in the New South Wales of the Land and Environment Court last year, which fined Forsari $ 360,000 after it failed to appoint two environmental important areas in the Yambola State Forest.

The court found that the Forest Agency had recorded 53 or Calpus trees in one of these areas, causing effective damage to the trees and influencing the shelter of the original animals and plants after black summer bush fires.

The ruling also found that the registration of trees caused possible damage to three types of threatened birds that lived in the forest.

In its ruling, Judge Rachel Bieber noted “the long record of previous condemnation of the environmental crimes of Foresty Corporation, including polluting a later waterway, insufficient surveys of threatened species, illegal harvesting of hollow trees, and harvesting in Kuala and rainy habitats.

Before Pepper, the statements of the state protection body that the Forest Agency is likely to restore its framework and have no good rehabilitation possibilities.

This indicates that Forsari “is not suitable for the purpose, which is legally and in an environmentally sound manner in managing our forests.”

He said: “They are not crimes that involve failure to cross or at a point. They are crimes that involve illegal registration cuts for government forests without appropriate levels of environmental protection. It is completely unprecedented.”

“Whether you announce a criminal organization or not, it is clear that it is not suitable for the purpose of managing our forests. It must be resolved.”

The Minns government was under pressure on the future of registration of indigenous forests, after it committed to the establishment of the “Koala National Park” in the north of the state before the 2023 elections.

The garden areas continued to be registered, while community groups and specialists are waiting to maintain a government decision on the boundaries of the park. Forestry Corporation revealed its losses 72 million dollars since 2020-21Including $ 29 million in 2023-24.

“The Forestry Foundation in New South Wales has been tried in the Land and Environment Court over and over again – what does it tell us about the organization?

“From any perspective you see, this is in fact a criminal organization in terms of crimes against the environment, crimes against biological diversity but also crimes against information affairs. Because when this organization runs these crimes, it already loses its money to the state.”

The official spokesman for the Forsari Company said that the registration operations produced 4 million tons of wood every year and “as you expect, the vast majority of these operations are fully compatible with the law.” They said that the agency often “protects more trees in its operations more than the list requires.”

“There are comprehensive regulations in force and the minister expects the Forsari Company in New South Wales to comply with it,” said Tara Morarti.

Greens Mlc Sue Highinson criticized the state government “to allow and defend the agency” to continue work.

She said: “For Forsari, breaking the law and harming the environment and wildlife has become like the game of seizures that were played under the protection of the state,” she said.

“They have been arrested, investigated, trial, criminal condemnation, and a fine – which the public pays – and they continue and do everything again.

“There is no integrity, accountability, or justice in this model of the process.”