Peter Malinauskas
The policy of the South Australian Labour Party of ensuring a sustainable forest industry released by opposition leader Peter Malinauskas is seen as a breath of fresh air to the South Australian Timber Processors Association.
Our organisation was formed in August 2017 with the express purpose of ensuring sufficient volume and term of supply to the smaller and medium sized processors in the Green Triangle Region. Some of these industries are facing acute shortages of raw materials over the next three years.
Over the last 4 ½ years the group have not wavered in their pursuit of ensuring long-term raw material supplies for these key family-owned businesses that make significant contribution to the economy of the region but have received little support from the present government.
Large volumes of log and pulp log exported to China and Japan have significantly reduced the raw material available to these processors. A $500,000 grant to a Chinese company to establish an export railhead at Bordertown did very little to encourage our efforts to achieve sustainability.
Radiata pine plantations were established by our forefathers demonstrating great foresight to provide raw material for future jobs in the domestic processing industry.
The state-owned forests were sold to private industry in 2012. That is now history and it behoves government of South Australia to follow the same foresight referred to above and to pursue sustainability of supply to all facets of the processing industry.
In addition to the vital issues of water and skills, the Malinauskas led Labour Party has outlined an eight-point plan to determine the future of the South Australian Forestry Industry.
They promise to address the plight of small and medium all applicable processors by “investigating the feasibility of incentives to ensure that arrangements favour local processors who may be locked out of contracts with the larger forest growers”.
This objective is a perfect fit with the policies and objectives of SATPA referred to above and along with the other seven key points, clearly demonstrates the effort made by the Malinauskas led Labour Party to ensure a bright future our vital Forestry Industry.
David Quill is the CEO of the South Australian Timber Processors Association
