GOVERNMENT ASKED TO EXPLAIN TIMBER INDUSTRY JOB LOSSES

A decision to allow interstate timber companies to purchase Victorian sawlogs has cast doubts on the State Government’s promises to the East Gippsland timber industry, according to Leader of The Nationals Peter Ryan and The Nationals Member for Eastern Region Peter Hall.

Mr Ryan said the decision by VicForests to allow more than 8000 cubic metres of sawlogs per year to be transported to Eden for processing would result in direct and indirect jobs losses in East Gippsland.

“The auction system makes a mockery of the Labor Party’s promises to ensure there were no nett job losses in the timber industry,” Mr Ryan said.

“The blind pursuit of the bottom line result by VicForests has ignored the enormous social consequences of awarding contracts to interstate processors.”

The issue was raised in State Parliament this week when Mr Ryan questioned the Minister for Agriculture Joe Helper about the government’s timber policies.

“Mr Helper claimed that VicForests would consider the social impact of its decisions but the VicForest charter is only focused on the bottom line,” Mr Ryan said.

“Under the auction system, there is absolutely no effort by VicForests or the Brumby Government to ensure that the needs of towns with a strong interest in the industry receive any consideration whatsoever.

“Selling Victorian logs to a New South Wales mill while local towns are screaming out for jobs in East Gippsland is a short-sighted decision that will have devastating long-term impacts.”

Mr Hall said one company based in Eden which had purchased logs under the auction system had received a taxpayer-funded payout to exit the industry in Victoria under the Labor Government’s Voluntary Licence Reduction Program.

“They were paid to shutdown their sawmills in Gippsland and now they have expanded in Eden and are receiving Victorian sawlogs at the expense of local jobs,” Mr Hall said.

“It is a bizarre public policy when the Brumby Government is prepared to sit back and watch a community like Orbost struggle for permanent jobs while our timber is being transported across the border to a company that has received a Victorian taxpayer-funded payout.”

Mr Hall said the VicForest charter of receiving ‘the greatest financial value for all Victorians’ was flawed and had compromised the future of East Gippsland timber families.

“Industry experts estimate that every 1000 cubic metres which is harvested in East Gippsland and transported out of the region takes another job away from towns like Orbost,” Mr Hall said.

“Every one of those jobs is another family that doesn’t have a breadwinner in Orbost and the flow-on effects are felt in every part of community life.

“The Brumby Government must intervene and ensure that there is consideration of the social impacts of these decisions as part of the long-term sustainability of the native hardwood timber industry.”

Mr Hall and Mr Ryan said they would continue to raise the timber industry issues in State Parliament and call on Melbourne Labor Ministers to overhaul the VicForest system.

“The auction system and the decision to tender out the harvesting and haulage component of the industry has been to the detriment of local small business operators,” Mr Hall said.

“The timber industry plays a vital role in the social and economic fabric of the East Gippsland community and its environmental credentials are far superior to many other industries.
“I believe it makes sense to sustainably harvest our own forests than to pillage the forests of developing countries around the world. As a matter of principle, more of the benefits of that sustainable harvest should accrue in the local community rather than be dispersed to NSW and beyond.”