The Tasmanian Government is set to give more taxpayer money to people affected by the severe downturn in the forestry industry, as part of a hardship program to be announced within weeks. Source: ABC News
Already $85 million has been provided to Tasmanians devastated after the collapse of forestry giant Gunns, including money for retraining, leaving the industry and financial transition support.
However, road builders missed out on the money and some have been lobbying for almost five years to get the compensation they say they deserve.
Correspondence obtained by the ABC reveals the Tasmanian Government may grant their wish soon.
An email between forestry road builder Anton Harris and the office of Resources Minister Paul Harriss says a new fund called a hardship program will be established by the end of the month.
In a letter from March, Mr Harriss went into more detail about his intentions:
“There is, frankly, insufficient funding available to address all of the losses and hardships that have arisen from the collapse of Gunns and the restructuring of the forest industry.
“This is an extremely complicated situation, and one in which there is, unfortunately, no straightforward response to your request to be considered for funding assistance.
“I have made my intentions clear to consider the use of some remaining funds to provide hardship and related support to forest contractors.”
Premier Will Hodgman did not rule out more taxpayer money being handed out.
“If there is to be any such announcement it will be made in due course, in an appropriate fashion, but I can’t confirm or deny that at this stage,” he said.
Launceston man Curtis Bradshaw, 48, is one of the contractors fighting for a payout.
The collapse of Gunns had a devastating impact on his livelihood which he made from paving forestry roads — a family business he had worked in for more than 20 years.
He wants $30,000 to pay off his debt.
“It was a total loss of income, and they basically took my dignity away and left me with nothing — no retraining to find more work, no compensation, because I was a roading contractor,” he said.
Fellow contractor Anton Harris said it was unacceptable that other contractors received up to $3 million in payouts, with some implicated in rorting, while roading contractors got nothing.
He is asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“It’s grossly unfair, it makes you feel that you weren’t part of the system, I suppose, and we were part of the system,” he said.
Greens Leader Cassy O’Connor called for the details to be released but branded the hardship fund a waste of money.
“Let’s call on Minister Harriss to be very open and transparent about how he plans to use taxpayers’ dollars — public money that could be otherwise going into health, housing, education — to sink it again into the native forest industry in Tasmania,” she said.
“We know that a billion dollars in public subsidies has gone into the industry in the past 15 years or so and many Tasmanians are absolutely fed up with their taxpayer dollars being poured into an industry which is dying — the native forest wood-chipping industry.”
Mr Bradshaw’s hoped the upcoming hardship fund might bring his fight for compensation to an end. But he was still sceptical it would happen after such a long wait.
“I’ve had nothing out of them for five years,” he said. “They keep telling me it’s coming but nothing comes. If it doesn’t come now, I’m nearly finished, aye?” he said.
