The State Government in Victoria has been accused of abandoning forest workers and managers, and even its own commercial entity VicForests. The State Opposition says forest workers are being hung out to dry with the inclusion of a “strict liability” clause in the Forests Legislation (Compliance and Enforcement) Bill 2019 even before the changes to the Code of Practice for Timber Harvesting that regulates their operation are known. Source: Timberbiz
The “strict liability” clause in the Bill, which passed on Wednesday, will mean that whether an honest mistake has been made or not, the accused will have to prove their innocence.
The Opposition says this is totally out of line with accepted practice and means penalties of more than $20,000 to an individual worker or more than $100,000 for a contractor or VicForests.
The Opposition says the Australian Law Reform Commission has issued a number of principles, to be considered when applying “strict liability” and that the Legislation did not satisfy any of these principles.
“At a time when timber workers and contractors are still coming to terms with the heartbreaking decision to shut down their industry, it is difficult to fathom how the Premier could be so heartless,” Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change Cindy McLeish said.
“This Labor Government will stop at nothing to burn hard working legitimate forest workers and their families, to impress their Green buddies.
“We need to fight for the rights of forest workers and contactors before they are steamrolled.”
The Bill passed with the slimmest of margins with the support of the Labor-voting independents Andy Meddick, Fiona Patten and the Greens, despite desperate approaches from the timber workers, CFMEU and the Liberals and Nationals.
The Opposition says that those Members knew exactly what they were doing and deliberately thumbed their nose at the industry despite having full knowledge of the impact of their decision to support the hypocritical actions of this Labor Government.
The Opposition says Labor wanted to rush the Bill through before the release of the new code of practice for timber production, making things very ambiguous and uncertain for timber workers just trying to do their jobs.
“The Premier will turn his back on the Forestry Division of the CFMEU in a desperate attempt to retain power. He will stop at nothing,” the Member for Narracan Gary Blackwood said.
“The Andrews Labor Government are turning a blind eye to the impact this will have on forest workers and contractors.
“I am very proud to say that the Liberals and Nationals and the majority of the crossbenchers stood firm and tried very hard to convince members of the Government to understand the enormous flaws in the drafting of the Bill and the dishonest and unfair nature of its intent.”
