THE Liberal Party will refuse to authorise a "blank cheque'' for Forestry Tasmania in a move designed to drive a wedge between minority government partners Labor and the Greens.The Liberals will this week try to amend the 2012-13 budget to block the $35 million set aside for the struggling government business.
The state government has described the money as a contingency fund which may or may not be needed depending on the outcome of a strategic review of Forestry Tasmania.
He suspected the fund was a "back door method'' of shutting down Forestry Tasmania, as the Greens want. "This is a very clear attempt by us to get some honesty in the debate and also to find out exactly where both parties stand on that issue.''
The Greens quickly ruled out supporting the Opposition's amendment.
Mr Morris said the money was not a hand out to Forestry Tasmania. "Until we see the URS report and what's recommended then we won't know how much of a hole there is in Forestry Tasmania and given the changes that almost certainly will need to be made, as to whether there's going to be public funds required,'' Mr Morris said.
Deputy Premier Bryan Green said the stunt showed the Liberal party was more interested in promoting division than supporting Forestry Tasmania. Mr Green said the contingency fund would help the organisation survive the market downturn. "It's about supporting Forestry Tasmania and its workers, not shutting them down,'' Mr Green said.
Mr Green said the government had not yet received the final report into Forestry Tasmania from URS. "We expect to receive this report in the near future, and we have committed to releasing it publicly, along with our response,'' he said.
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