Timber workers will rally in Warragul and Rosedale from 9am on Friday before driving their trucks down the Princes Freeway to Morwell, in what organisers have described as a funeral procession to mark the “death” of timber towns. Source: Timberbiz
The procession of trucks, organised by Forest and Wood Communities Australia, will carry a coffin marked “Timber towns” to ANC Forestry Group’s Morwell timber yard, where wreathes will be laid in memory of the Andrews Government’s failure to protect the industry from green lawfare.
Timber family children will be delivering a letter to Labor MP Harriet Shing’s Morwell office asking why she is not supporting them and their parents’ jobs.
Forest and Wood Communities Australia managing director Justin Law said Labor had failed to amend the Code of Practice for Timber Production, leaving “the back door open for environment groups to drag VicForests into court”.
An actor has been employed to play the role of a priest at the timber town funeral and placards prepared with slogans ranging from “trees grow back, our towns won’t” to “Inner-city decisions hurt regional families” and “step on timber floorboards, not timber people”.
“The situation in our timber communities is dire and the families who are copping it in this political nonsense are pleading for this decision to be reversed,” FWCA national membership manager Felicia Stevenson said.
“These are families who have been a part of producing renewable, sustainable timber for decades. These are communities which will be turned into ghost towns if it is all shut down.
“It just makes no sense. We are in the bush and see the four trees in 10,000 harvested each year regrow and keep providing us with timber. We see heaps of wildlife in the regrowth because they like young trees too, and we look after it as best we can because it’s our future,” she said.
“We’re the ones out there fighting the fires, not the activists who lie about us.
“The Government has not given us one piece of science to back up its decision to kill our communities. Not even Freedom of Information requests could get a straight answer.
“It’s just activist lies which have become government policies and we are just the cannon fodder in the battle for inner-city votes.”
Felicia Stevenson can be contacted on (0487) 359 559.
