The Victorian State Government has come under fire over its announcement this week of a National Institute for Forest Products Innovation Centre in Gippsland. While the establishment of the centre has been widely applauded, industry bodies and the opposition have questioned why the same Government is also closing a very significant part of the industry down in the same area. Source: Timberbiz
And the Assistant Minister for Forestry Senator Jonathon Duniam has made it clear the new centre will be undertaking research in both native timber and plantation timber management and processing.
“We continue to call on the Andrew’s Government to overturn their devastating unilateral decision to shut down the native forestry industry in Victoria by 2030 and back the industry, the workers and the regional communities the industry supports,” Senator Duniam said.
The centre will be the third established in Australia funded jointly by State Governments in South Australia, Tasmania and now Victoria with additional funding from the Federal Government.
The National Institute for Forest Products Innovation is committed to promoting and encouraging innovation in Australia’s forest and wood products industry.
Opening later this year, the Gippsland centre will be created as part of the Victorian Forestry Plan to promote research and development opportunities that will help to diversify the sector.
The Victorian Hardwood Sawmillers Association said it supported the establishment of the centre in Gippsland, but also remained “bewildered” why the same Government that is establishing the Centre is also closing a very significant part of the industry down.
The VHSA said that according to the Minister for Agricultures Jaclyn Symes’ media release, the centre will cover areas such as “timber processing, wood fibre recovery and advanced manufacturing”.
However, the VHSA said all of these required wood fibre that is not available.
“The sustainable hardwood industry has made significant advances in innovation, automation and wood fibre recovery in recent years. The Centre could play a significant role in advancing these achievements except the Victorian Government is closing the industry down,” spokesman Leonard Fenning said.
Shadow Minister for Agriculture Peter Walsh said the announcement missed the mark.
“The Agriculture Minister claims this research hub will ‘grow’ timber jobs but it’s Labor that’s responsible for sending Victorian timber workers to the unemployment line,” Mr Walsh said.
“What Victoria’s sustainable, responsible timber industry really needs is for timber to be made available to secure the tens of thousands of jobs that it already supports.
“Timber contractors and harvest and haulage operators are going to the wall while the Andrews Government delays the release of timber coupes assessed after the January bushfires,” he said.
“Already more than 100 Gippslanders are out of work and 80 machines are parked up in Gippsland yards because the Andrews Labor Government refuses to release more timber coupes.
“With almost half a million in finance payments due every month on these machines that can’t work, Labor’s destructive policy is forcing Victoria’s timber industry to its knees.
“The timber is available. What’s missing is the Andrews Labor Government’s support of this $7.32 billion industry and the 20,000 Victorians it employs.”
Melina Bath, the Member for Eastern Victoria, went in harder, calling Ms Symes’ statement as “insulting to Gippsland’s native timber workers”.
“This is a thinly veiled attempt by (Ms Symes) to show support to an industry the Andrews Government is hell bent on tearing down,’’ she said.
“Minister Symes’ words are nothing more than media spin.
“This centre is a Federal Government initiative to enhance innovation in plantation based and sustainably managed native forestry, yet Minister Symes has used the opportunity to talk about the Andrews Government’s plan which will see the axing of thousands of Gippsland jobs,” Ms Bath said.
“This is the same Minister who continues to refuse to meet with seven East Gippsland timber contractors and save jobs in our regional community.”
The Australian Forest Products Association has applauded the announcement but also criticised the Andrew’s Government for pretending the Centre will support the closure of the renewable native forest sector in Victoria.
“It is extremely disappointing that the Andrew’s Government has chosen to mar a very important announcement with more media spin claiming this new Centre in some way supports its plan to close sustainably managed native forestry in Victoria,” AFPA Chief Executive Officer Ross Hampton said.
“As the Federal Government has made clear, the Centres are initiatives of the Commonwealth Growing a Better Australia plan released in 2018, which supports both plantation-based forestry and sustainably managed native forestry.”
Mr Hampton said plantation forestry was a vital part of the industry providing the softwood timber framing for homes and woodchips for making paper and packaging.
“Native forestry is equally important, however.
“We use just four trees out of 10,000 from our vast native forest estate in Victoria and every tree is regenerated to make the process completely sustainable.
“From these trees we get the appearance grade timbers we need for things like floors, doors, stairs and indeed the lining of the new State Parliament annex in Melbourne. We can and should do both sorts of forestry in Victoria.
“The Andrew’s plan is not for a transition to plantations but rather a transition to imports,” Mr Hampton said.
