Mayors call on SA Treasurer to “immediately suspend forward sale process”

THE three Mayors of South Australia’s Lower South East have formally called on Treasurer Jack Snelling to immediately suspend the forward sale process.
In a joint statement the Mayors said that, based on their preliminary review of the Regional Impact Statement (RIS) with key industry stakeholders, they concluded that there were a number of very serious and obvious flaws in the report and its recommendations.
“The failings within the report warrant (if not demand) that the forward sale process be immediately suspended to enable our local community to respond formally to the RIS and for the ForestrySA Forward Sale Select Committee to submit a report on its findings on 27 July, 2011 to the State Parliament.
“We have a long history built on our local forest industry and we are proud of our heritage. As a community this industry has made us resilient to the economic peaks and troughs that have come to us in the form of recessions, the Global Financial Crisis and natural disasters such as Ash Wednesday.
“We have survived as a community and are able to overcome a myriad of challenges which is why this decision about our heritage deserves to be treated with respect,” their statement said.
The process of the forward sale is expected to take up to 12 months therefore the request for an immediate suspension was considered a reasonable course of action.
“This is a decision that will have a continued and profound impact on our region for the next 111 years and should not be treated with unnecessary haste,” said the Mayors.
Their case was given even more credence when Graham Lamond, a Mount Gambier CFS veteran, fired a stern warning to the State Government not to forward sell the forests and jeopardise the region’s firefighting capacity just to win votes in Adelaide.
Lamond, group captain of the Mount Gambier and District CFS Group, said the firefighting capacity delivered by ForestrySA must not be lost.
“If something was to happen and there was less firefighting resources by ForestrySA, then that would put a hell of a load back on volunteers.”
However, Treasurer Jack Snelling believes that irrespective of any decision by the Government on the matter, the industry is undergoing current challenges caused by a high Australian dollar and increased competitiveness of imports. The ACIL Tasman report concluded that public ownership of forest rotations will do little to shield industry from these issues,” he said when announcing the forward sales plan.
As a direct result of the decision, Snelling said the Government would:
• Establish a South-East Forest Industry Roundtable to be chaired by former Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union National President Trevor Smith and other key interested parties. This will provide recommendations to Government on the conditions of any forward sale before going to market and the long-term viability of South Australia’s timber industry;
• Provide sawmill owners who have existing log supply contracts with ForestrySA an option to extend their current contracts by up to a further five years. This will protect job security;
• Ensure any sale condition includes the new purchaser agreeing to target rotation length consistent with the current and planned ForestrySA standard. This will keep the integrity of the standard of forest product coming out of the region;
• Ensure there is a commitment from the new purchaser to match ForestrySA’s current level of planned viable domestic supply. This will guarantee a future local timber industry; and
• Create an obligation on the successful purchaser to report yearly to the Government. This will ensure they are meeting the conditions of their purchase.