An industry Big Day Out to promote the critical aspects of the hardwood timber industry and its impacts on income and livelihood to a raft of families across rural southern Queensland has been planned for Maryborough in August. Source: Timberbiz
The Queensland Hardwood Timber Industry says it is coming under increasing pressure from many directions.
“The critical aspect for the Queensland Timber Industry will be future resource supply, and to date this has not been adequately addressed by either Industry or Government,” the organisation’s executive officer Sean Ryan said.
“On one hand, we have world class timber species, a robust code of practice, existing infrastructure, processors and markets.
“On the other hand we have a shortage of skilled workers, diminishing resource availability and an unstable policy environment that undermines long-term investment potential,’’ he said.
“Without drastic intervention, the future of the 40 hardwood mills of southern Queensland and the thousands of people the extended industry employs, will be in halved and growers will have a reduced market potential.”
The Big Day Out will be held on 18 August at the Granville Soccer Club, Banana Street, Maryborough, starting at 11.30am with a free BBQ.
“We need as many people there as we can get to demonstrate the importance of this industry ahead of the release of the Draft Code of Practice,’’ Mr Ryan said.
“There is a forecast of very regressive changes to the Code of Practice for Native Forest Management to be released in the coming months.
“This is not a political rally but a focus on the many families associated with the industry – growers, processors, harvest and haulage contractors, retail and wholesale – coming together to promote the positive aspects of the industry and some of the impediments facing it.”
It is hoped more than 1000 people will attend with at least a bus load from every mill (40) in SE Qld and hundreds of growers.
RSVP: 11th August 2019 to [email protected]
