Coalition Spokesperson for Forestry Senator Richard Colbeck released the Coalition’s Plan for Real Action to invest in Australia’s forest and forest products industry.
The Plan is focused on supporting jobs, protecting and sustaining our forests and investing in skills.
The forest and forest products industry is one of Australia’s most significant industries. The industry has an annual turnover of $23 billion and contributes around 0.7% to Australia’s Gross Domestic Product and 5.8% of manufacturing output.
More than 76,000 people are directly employed in the forestry logging and wood manufacturing sectors of the industry.
The Coalition has always recognised and balanced the competing environmental, social and economic objectives of native forest management through the Regional Forest Agreements and the landmark Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement.
Labor has failed to support the forestry industry as a key contributor to the nation’s economy and a major employer in regional Australia.
Upon coming to Government Labor scrapped the dedicated position of Forestry Minister. It then proposed a damaging Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme which would severely impact on forestry contractors and Labor joined with the Greens in not supporting the industry’s move to generate renewable energy with wood waste.
Now Labor’s preference deal with the Greens means the forestry industry faces an uncertain future. Should the Greens get their way under any secret deal, millions of hectares of forests will be locked up and thousands of workers will lose their jobs. Many rural and regional communities will be devastated.
The Coalition‘s Plan for Real Action on Forestry will:
1. Support Forest Contractors
The Coalition will provide $20 million to forest contractors to begin a restructure within the sector. We will engage immediately with forest contracting organisations to determine the measures need to undertake the restructure.
2. Economic assessment of long-term demand
A Coalition Government will provide $750,000 to undertake an economic assessment of long term domestic consumption trends for forest products and fund the collection and reporting of key forest industry and market data. Media release from Senator the Hon Richard Colbeck – Page 2
3. Regional Forest Agreements
A Coalition Government will maintain its support for long term Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs). Under a Coalition Government there will be no further forest lock ups. A Coalition Government will seek to extend RFAs for five years following the successful completion and implementation of each RFA’s five year review. This process will commence with the Tasmanian RFA.
The primary objective of this commitment is to give an effective 20 year rolling life to each RFA which provides resource security and a stable investment environment to the forest industry.
4. National Bushfire Mitigation programme
The Coalition will invest $15 million over three years to establish a National Bushfire Mitigation Programme to develop comprehensive, long term bushfire mitigation strategies, including better reduction programmes.
5. Prevention of Illegal Logging
The Coalition will legislate to make it an offence to import any timber product which has not been verified as being legally harvested.
6. Forest & Forest Products Certification Standards
The Coalition is committed to the ongoing development of a quality forest certification processes.
7. Sawmillers’ Forestry Certification Assistance Programme
The Coalition will assist small sawmillers with $1 million over three years to attain international forestry certification.
8. Managed Investment Schemes
A Coalition Government is committed to maintaining forestry managed investment schemes with enhanced safeguards to protect investors and rebuild market confidence.
9. Wood biomass and renewable energy
A Coalition Government will re-introduce amendments to the Renewable Energy Legislation allowing for wood biomass to benefit from energy incentives available to other renewable energy sources.
10. Timber Engineering Centre of Excellence
The Coalition will provide $3.7 million over five years to the University of Tasmania to develop a Centre of Excellence for Timber Engineering & Design based in Launceston. Funding for this programme will come from the Regional Education Fund.
11. Skills Training and Retention
The Coalition will continue to support industry with skills training and retention programmes, providing funding of $1.5 million over three years for ForestWorks – the Forest and Forest Products Industry Skills Council. Funding for this programme will come from the Regional Education Fund.
12. Increasing Research Capacity for Forestry
A Coalition Government will increase research and development for the forest industry through increased matching grants to Forest and Wood Products Australia and grants of up to $50,000 for further study or specialised research in the forest industry.
