"Now are we going to continue to have just a woodchip industry and small amounts of value adding through saw logs and finishing timber products or are we going to have substantial value adding?
"I’ve always felt and always thought that substantial value adding was part of the equation."
Federal Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull rang the ABC while Mr Garrett was on air to say he was "aghast" at his counterpart’s hypocrisy.
He said Mr Garrett had been silent when Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon terminated an initial environmental inquiry into the pulp mill.
"Not one word of criticism from Peter Garrett or (Opposition Leader) Kevin Rudd," Mr Turnbull said.
"They were completely complicit in Lennon’s conduct. Not one word of criticism. They never picked up the phone and said `hang on Paul, you’ve got to let this thing go through to its conclusion’."
He accused Mr Garrett of being "like a mute, a silent figure lurking in the shadows" on the pulp mill issue until the last few days.