Regional New South Wales will have its own dedicated government department aimed at co-ordinating the state government’s response on all regional issues. The Department of Regional NSW will co-ordinate support for NSW communities, businesses and farmers who have endured drought, bushfire and flood. Source: Timberbiz
The department, established yesterday, brings together primary industries, resources and geoscience, and local land services agencies.
Deputy NSW Premier John Barilaro said the department would drive the delivery of bushfire and covid-19 stimulus and industry recovery packages.
The Australian Forest Products Association’s CEO Ross Hampton said CoVid-19 was an issue everyone was dealing with.
“I think many in our cities forget that as well, regional Australia is still dealing with a long running drought and recovering from the ‘black summer’ bushfires,” he said.
“This decision by NSW to bring together a number of state government agencies under one roof to grapple with regional issues is to be commended, as is the appointment of Gary Barnes as Secretary, someone who understands regional NSW and has done a great job representing it in his current role as Coordinator General for regional NSW in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.
“But we do urge the new department to set bushfire recovery as a major priority.
“The forest product industries are dealing with CoVid-19 and will continue to do their part to support federal and state government efforts to bring it under control,” Mr Hampton said.
“But its major priority is bushfire recovery, something it was dealing with before the virus and is still doing now.
“Both the sustainably harvested and then regenerated native timber forests in NSW, and the softwood timber plantation areas were badly affected by the fires.
“Urgent recovery harvesting and replanting needs to go ahead quickly.”
Mr Hampton said that forest industries underpinned the economic prosperity of many regional NSW communities and in many places were the main source of employment.
After the devastating impacts of CoVid-19 on the tourism and services sectors it was vital that these blue-collar jobs were supported to continue providing a baseline for the broader regional economic rebuilding which must eventually follow when the virus was brought under control.
The website for the new department is at: https://www.nsw.gov.au/improving-nsw/regional-nsw/
