[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_Voodoo Economics Masking FT Losses_K Booth MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

VOODOO ECONOMICS HIDE FORESTRY TASMANIA'S LOSSES

Cash Flow is now Profit, Subsidies are Income, and Costs Become
"Contributions to State Economy"

Kim Booth MP
Greens Forests Spokesperson

Monday, 24 August 2009
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today called accused Forestry Tasmania (FT) of
attempting to hoodwink Tasmanians into believing that its business is in
profit, when in fact the organisation has made a massive loss for
2008-09, despite paying zero for the public forests that it sells, and
despite receiving millions of dollars in government subsidies under the
Community Forest Agreement.

Greens Forests spokesperson Kim Booth MP said massive losses to FT's
bottom line this year are being masked by a huge rise in the theoretical
value of the biological assets (that is, the forests) under FT's
control, yet the company attributes a value of zero to those same forest
assets when it clearfells, firebombs, and destroys them.  

"Forestry Tasmania are presiding over a massive loss of public funds and
assets, and now they have the gall to come out and claim that cash flow
is actually a profit, that government subsidies are income, and that
costs are actually 'contributions to state economy,'" said Mr Booth.

"This is voodoo economics of the worst kind. The Minister should require
FT to give an honest annual accounting based on all figures, not just
those held above-the-line, but of course this would expose the true
extent of the loss-making juggernaut that FT has now become."

"If a used car salesman adopted the same accounting standards as FT,
they would make a profit every time they sold a car, regardless of how
much they paid for it because, once sold, the car (apparently) becomes
worthless, and any money they make on that sale, even if its only one
dollar or one banana, is a profit. That is not real-world accounting -
used-car salesmen across the state must be very jealous."

"If FT are serious about including the value of the forests to prop-up
their bottom-line, while giving those same forests a zero value when
they clearfell them, then one could quite seriously conclude that FT
would have made a much larger profit by simply leaving the trees alone."

"The only winners out of this are Gunns who are the beneficiaries of
FT's modus operandi, which is to trash public forests while shifting the
real profits to Gunns."

"Premier David Bartlett claims to be data-driven, yet here is a glaring
example of voodoo economics masking the true situation. The Premier must
require that FT moves to triple-bottom-line accounting and gives an
honest financial picture of its activities, including a value for the
forests that it trashes," said Mr Booth.




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