Members of Timber Communities of Australia have called on ABC Chairman Mr Donald McDonald and his board to fully investigate the recent 4 Corners anti forestry program.

The ABC Code of Practice requires Current Affairs programs to be accurate, balanced and impartial.

This 4 Corners program on Tasmania’s forest industry fails all three criteria, as a result TCA will proceed with lodging a formal complaint with the ABC.

“A map showing forest reserves in this State was factually incorrect and showed only about half the reserves created by the Regional Forest Agreement.” Mr Barry Chipman, State Coordinator of Timber Communities Australia said today.

“Whilst TCA is proud of the achievements that Tasmania has made in forest conservation, and its commitment to sustainable forest management, the ABC failed to report any of these achievements”.

“ABC failed to balance their program by ignoring the comprehensive forest reserve system that protects 40% of our forests, 68% of old growth (86% not to be logged, equates to 50 million trees ) and 95% of high quality wilderness”

“Throughout the 4 Corners program vision of harvested areas was inconsistent with the commentary.”

“The program is a great disservice to the thousands of professional, technical and hardworking people who work in our forests obeying the laws of the land and in an open and transparent manner”.

“This program is a total misrepresentation of the Tasmanian forest industry”.

“4 Corners sets itself up as the so called flagship of ABC TV current affairs, but in reality it has just became another run of the mill entertainment driven “current affairs” time slot that places entertainment above factual reporting.”

“The ABC’s Board must ensure the national broadcaster’s standards are maintained and direct 4 Corners to correct the story immediately.” Mr. Chipman conclu