Victorian timber workers facing uncertaintyFriday 1 Mar 2019 Timber workers and businesses are sweating on their future, with the Victorian Government delaying the release of plans for industry to access native timber reserves for logging. The timber release plan is a key strategy that dictates where native timber can be logged by the state-owned VicForests.VicForests told the ABC it had been directed not to proceed with a new timber release plan "until further policy work has been completed". Under questioning in state parliament about the delayed release of the plan, Premier Daniel Andrews said he would seek an update on its progress from officials. Access to native timber has become increasingly difficult in recent years, with mills forced to receive less supply due to a range of factors, including long-term sustainability of forests, bushfire and native fauna protection. The long-term future of native timber logging is an issue being debated inside the Andrews Government. Stacey Gardiner from the Australian Forest Contractors Association said the long delay in finalising the timber release plan was causing significant issues for the industry. "We're in a situation where we expect contractors to be stood down," she said. Nationals party leader Peter Walsh demanded in state parliament that the Premier reveal when the plan would be released. "2,500 jobs and a further 1,400 jobs at Australian Paper in the Morwell area are at risk because your Government has refused to sign the timber released plans that were supposed to be finalised last July," he said. "So that these jobs are not lost to the Gippsland communities, will you immediately intervene to save these jobs by having the timber release plans signed?" Forestry has been a difficult issue for the Andrews Labor Government as it seeks to balance blue-collar regional jobs with protecting endangered species and a push to create a new national park. The Great Forest National Park has featured in recent elections with proponents arguing it is necessary to protect species like the Leadbeater's possum, while industry has argued it would kill jobs. In 2017, the Andrews Government intervened and purchased the Heyfield timber mill in Gippsland when its owners announced they were pulling out because they had no guaranteed timber supply. The Wilderness Society's Amelia Young said the tourism industry, water assets and burgeoning carbon capture sector also needed certainty about future logging. "The timber release plan is being delayed because there is no wood left in the forest, they have been over-logged for far too long, and bushfire has burnt the forest as well," she said. "The best thing the Government can do is to wind up the industry, transition the industry into plantation and create the Great Forest National Park," she said. Source: ABC News |
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