By JOHN ARMSTRONG
political editor
All logging of native timber on crown-managed land will cease within two years after cabinet ministers yesterday came up with a face-saving compromise on terminating West Coast rimu contracts.
Furniture-makers were not sure what impact the decision to end state forest rimu logging by April 2002 would
have on rimu furniture prices in the meantime.
They said that depended on consumer preference and manufacturers adapting to other timbers, given that rimu was already relatively highly priced. However, some predicted inevitable job losses and more furniture imports.
The Furniture Association forecasts that up to 4000 jobs could be lost among the hundreds of small manufacturers around the country.
Dismissing opposition from organised lobbyists on the West Coast as "predictable," Prime Minister Helen Clark instead pitched for the environment vote, arguing that ending logging of ancient rainforests would be a great relief to many New Zealanders.
The cabinet's decision provides a partial face-saver for Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton.
The pair had publicly argued for logging contracts to run their full term until 2007. But last week it appeared that their cabinet colleagues would opt for a cutoff date of the end of next year.
The extra three months offered some crumbs for the two ministers ahead of their post-cabinet meeting with West Coast mayors, who remained "extremely disappointed" with the Government's decision.
But the April 2002 cutoff still means the logging winds up early in election year - allowing Labour and the Alliance to push their "green" credentials.
Government officials estimate that the cabinet's decision will slice rimu log volumes by three-quarters.
Roughly 40,000 cu m is milled each year. Half comes from the so-called Buller "overcut" in the Orikaka Forest, where logging will stop by the end of August this year.
The Okarito and Saltwater Forests, where logging will end by April 2002, provide a further 10,000 cu m.
That will still leave 10,000 cu m from privately owned forests, mainly in Southland and on the West Coast. Some 5000 to 10,000 cu m is also stockpiled.
The West Coast will not get extra compensation for the loss of state rimu logging. The Government is now negotiating with the mayors on how the already announced $120 million "development" package for Coasters should be administered.
Legislation has also been tabled ending the 1986 West Coast Accord, subject to the package being accepted by West Coast councils.
Furniture-makers had hinted that backtracking on the accord's promise of perpetual supply from sustainably managed crown forests could prompt legal action, but Forestry Minister Pete Hodgson described the legal risk to the Crown of the cabinet's decision as "slight."
He refused to put a figure on job losses, saying that depended on radiata pine and macrocarpa coming on stream from the Coast, the amount of stockpiled rimu and use made of recycled rimu and beech.
Furniture-makers said they had told the Government the industry needed five to eight years to adjust.
By JOHN ARMSTRONG
political editor
All logging of native timber on crown-managed land will cease within two years after cabinet ministers yesterday came up with a face-saving compromise on terminating West Coast rimu contracts.
Furniture-makers were not sure what impact the decision to end state forest rimu logging by April 2002 would
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