For there to be criticism that Prime Minister Tony Abbott kept an election promise to the Tasmanian people is totally bizarre.
Prior the last Federal election, Mr Abbott made it clear that in Government he would seek to reverse the damage done by Federal and State Labor to the Tasmanian forestry industry, damage that resulted in the loss of thousands of local jobs.
While the United Nations rejected the Federal Government's proposal to reverse Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage boundary changes, the job destroying forest deal is dead, and good riddance to it.
The Prime Minister should be congratulated for sticking to a key election commitment, despite the pressure on him to renege from Green groups who refuse to accept the democratic outcome of the election.
Claims that the delay in renegotiating the RFA are somehow linked to this are false. While there was a request for a short delay to avoid a clash between consultation on the RFA and consultation on the Forestry Tasmania bid for FSC certification, the big delay in the RFA process was initiated by Labor, the Greens and the conservation movement.
The third five-yearly review of the RFA was due in 2012, but was delayed by the then Labor-Green Governments in favour of their job-destroying Tasmanian forest deal.
The Tasmanian Liberal Government and the Coalition Government in Canberra have resurrected the five-yearly review and will also negotiate an extension to implement the election commitment to establishing a rolling 20-year Agreement.