Nationals leader Peter Walsh
A State Government plan to invest $120 million to shore up Victoria’s timber supply and supporting the forestry sector’s transition away from native timber has already come under attack by the Nationals. Source: Timberbiz
Minister for Agriculture Gayle Tierney yesterday announced the Government would be investing $120 million – the single largest investment in plantation establishment in the state’s history – in an agreement with Hancock Victorian Plantations planting an extra 16 million trees in a new estate.
HVP says the land will be obtained through purchases, lease agreements and farm forestry agreement over the next five to 10 years.
It comes as VicForests’ board reportedly decided this week to delay the release of the Timber Release Plan until after the State election on 26 November.
The State Government says the new plantation will underpin 2000 new and existing jobs in regional Victoria and cover an area equivalent to 7000 MCGs.
The State Government says plantings will begin next year, subject to final approvals.
HVP, one of the largest private plantation companies in Australia, will match the Labor Government’s investment almost dollar-for-dollar to buy, lease and manage the more than 14,000 hectares of softwood plantations.
However, Nationals leader Peter Walsh says the announcement is a re-play of a $110 million investment announcement in 2020.
The State Government said at the time that the Gippsland Plantations Investment Program would significantly grow Victoria’s timber stocks by providing incentives for new industrial-scale plantings as part of the Government’s record $110 million investment in plantation timber.
It is understood that to date no trees have been planted under that program.
Mr Walsh said the $110 million has been sitting on the books for over three years and was never spent and had never produced any timber for Victoria.
“And two months out from a State election, they’re making a new announcement of a similar amount of money. And it is just deceitful in making the claim again,” Mr Walsh said.
“And it will deliver the same outcome – zero.
“I believe that people will treat it with the cynicism that it deserves as just a political stunt.
“Two months out from an election they are trying to patch up the absolute mess they have made of the timber supply and Victoria.”
The State Government says that to protect timber supply for the construction industry, the new plantations have the potential to bring international processors to the region – boosting the state’s production of much-needed building products.
“HVP Plantations welcomes the opportunity to work with the Victorian Government to deliver one of the most significant plantation forestry developments in the last 20 years,” HVP CEO Stephen Ryan said.
“This project is a strong endorsement of the Victorian forestry industry. It allows HVP Plantations to expand our Gippsland plantation forestry estate, making Gippsland one of the largest softwood plantation forestry regions in Australia.
“We will generate employment by producing an additional 1.5 million seedlings a year at our Gippsland tree nursery, through land preparation and tree planting and by caring for the trees,” he said.
“There are also opportunities to enter into farm forestry agreements with local farmers. We are proud to increase plantation softwood timber supply in Gippsland and to support the future security of mill processing.”
Ms Tierney said the investment was “all about guaranteeing the jobs in the timber sector that Victorian workers and communities rely on.
“As we expand Gippsland’s softwood supply, we’re delivering new opportunities for our timber industry.
“This is the biggest investment in Victorian history in new plantation establishment – making sure we have a strong, sustainable timber supply for decades to come.”
