Greens fear for environment under Abbott A FEDERAL government led by Tony Abbott would allow premiers like Campbell Newman free reign to trample on environmental protection laws, the Greens are warning. Senator Larissa Waters on Tuesday said Mr Newman was planning to reopen native forest logging in southeast Queensland by tearing up an agreement that had protected the trees for nearly 15 years. A landmark agreement signed between loggers and environment groups in 1999 outlined plans for the industry to transition from one reliant on native forests to one sourcing timbers from plantations. Under the Southeast Queensland Forest Agreement, there was to be a 25-year transition phase so by 2025 there would be no logging in protected native forests. But a leaked letter obtained by the Greens shows Queensland's forestry minister John McVeigh has decided to approve logging in areas of state forests previously excluded from harvesting. The letter, dated January 16 and sent from Queensland's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry also shows the minister approved logging in areas covered by the 1999 agreement. Senator Waters said the Newman government was determined to "decimate" every effort by previous Labor governments in Queensland to protect the environment. She said a federal coalition government under Mr Abbott would allow their colleagues in the states to run roughshod over environmental protection laws at the behest of industry. "That's a real kind of a taste of what an Abbott government would be like," she told AAP on Tuesday. Clearly if we had an Abbott prime ministership there'd be no check on Campbell Newman's vandalism. In a statement, Mr McVeigh said the areas being reopened were not world-heritage-listed forests and had been sustainably harvested for a century before Labor "locked up" the industry. "It's extremely disappointing, but no surprise that the Greens are trying to make political mileage of our long-term, forest management strategy," he said. The decision to shut out well-managed local timber operators had seen an influx of imports from Asian rainforests, many of which weren't felled sustainably, he added. Senator Waters called on federal Environment Minister Tony Burke to intervene, claiming any native logging in Queensland would need his approval now the forestry agreement appeared to be in tatters. Queensland's government already raised the ire of the Greens this week when it flagged plans to allow mining and irrigation on rivers that feed channels in outback Queensland and the Lake Eyre Basin. Senator Waters said Mr Burke had known the Queensland government might repeal the wild river laws for a year, but had so far failed to act.