Labor’s latest backflip, abandoning support for more native forest reserves in Tasmania, including 356,000ha of permanent reserves, shows they cannot be trusted to protect the environment or tackle climate change.

“Labor talks big about overhauling environment laws and taking strong action on climate change, but has now backflipped on protecting vast areas of Tasmania’s native forests,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens forest spokesperson.

You just can’t trust Labor on environment laws overhaul after the Victorian Labor government increases the native forest area open to logging, say the Australian Greens.

"This is a disastrous decision by the Andrews Labor government," said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens forests spokesperon.

"For the Victorian Labor government to increase the area of forest to be logged and extend native forest logging to 2028 is a disaster for our forests, a disaster for our climate, a disaster for water security, and a disaster for threatened animals."

With the stroke of a pen rolling over last century’s destructive logging laws, WA Labor has signed the death warrant on threatened animals like the critically endangered Western Ringtail Possum, say the Australian Greens.

“This rollover is the first by a Labor government. While federal Labor talks tall about strengthening federal environmental laws, the WA Labor government is allowing precious native forests to be destroyed for another 20 years,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens forests spokesperson.

The Australian Greens welcome the acknowledgement from the federal agriculture minister and the Victorian environment minister that native forest logging is unsustainable and contributes to climate change.

“It’s clear that native forest logging in Victoria and across the country must end immediately and that the destructive logging laws, the Regional Forest Agreements, must be scrapped," said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens forests spokesperson.

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In staggering testimony yesterday, the Victorian environment department’s deputy secretary for forest, fire and regions admitted the department’s position on old-growth logging is that it should end.

“The Andrews government is defying its own environment department to allow Victoria’s old-growth forests to continue to be logged. This is a government that applauds its own action on renewable energy with one hand, while continuing to log forests and burn polluting brown coal with the other,” said Ellen Sandell, Victorian Greens environment spokesperson.

Last week’s rollover of the New South Wales native forest logging laws for another 20 years is nothing short of criminal.

“This disastrous rollover of last century’s Regional Forest Agreements signs the death warrant for threatened species and gives woodchippers everything they have ever wanted - all their Christmases come at once,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens forests spokesperson.

The Senate Inquiry into Australia’s animal extinction crisis today heard testimony that Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews acknowledged the need to protect the highest conservation value forests, but buckled under pressure from VicForests, the state-owned logging company, to allow these forest areas to be logged.

A leaked study by University of Canberra academics for the Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) shows two thirds of Australians, including those in rural and regional areas, want an end to native forest logging.

“It’s clear that a huge majority of Australians know that logging of native forests must end,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens spokesperson for forests.

“The Labor and Liberal parties are the only thing standing in the way of protecting our native forests.”