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TO PROTECT just 4 per cent of the recommended 433,000hectares in the Tarkine outlined by the National Heritage Council was a disgrace, Greens leader Christine Milne said yesterday. Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke heritage-listed just a 2-kilometre wide Coastal strip. The Coastal strip features some of the most permanent Aboriginal artefacts in Tasmania. "What possible justification can an environment minister have for abandoning the environment to the mining industry?" Senator Milne said. "No doubt Tony Abbott is cheering as he would go even further and not only mine the Tarkine but reject any end to logging. "If anyone had any doubt as to who is running the environment portfolio in the country they need look no further than the mining industry and their spokesperson Paul Howes." Senator Milne said with a federal election forthcoming the community now has an opportunity to demonstrate its outrage over the sellout of the Labor Party to the mining industry from one end of the country to the other. "This is further proof that Labor is in the back pockets of the big miners. Labor has a terrible track record and have failed repeatedly to stand up for the environment. "They have not only sold out the Great Barrier Reef to the mining industry, but now they have also given over the Tarkine to the mining industry."