Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Education) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that:

(a) we have a world-class and sustainable native hardwood timber industry in Australia which delivers social, economic, cultural and environmental benefits for our nation;

(b) timber industry workers provide invaluable skills and practical support to their communities during times of natural disasters, particularly bushfires;

(c) banning native timber harvesting in Australia will result in more imported timber products, often sourced from countries with poorer environmental protocols; and

(d) a sustainable native hardwood timber industry is part of the answer to reducing Australia's carbon emissions as timber products sequester carbon in our floorboards, furniture and other timber products;

(2) notes that the Victorian Government's illogical decision to ban all native hardwood timber harvesting on public land from 1 January 2024 is based on political science, not environmental science; and

(3) urges the Government to:

(a) recognise the sustainable native hardwood timber industry is an issue of national importance because of supply chain considerations and community safety;

(b) include the future of the native hardwood timber industry as an issue for discussion at the next National Cabinet; and

(c) support a taxpayer-funded public information campaign to explain the importance of the native hardwood timber industry and dispel the myths perpetuated by environmental activists.

This motion is self-explanatory. It outlines in a very logical way the issues and the challenges facing our world-class and sustainable native hardwood timber industry in this nation, particularly in the state of Victoria. What the motion can't capture is the emotion, the anger, the frustration and the disbelief that lies at the heart of the decision to ban all harvesting of native hardwood timber in Victoria in what is a Dan-made disaster for the people of Victoria.

People in my electorate of Gippsland and those in the electorate of Monash have been deceived. This has been an incredible act of treachery by the Premier of Victoria, who lied to Victorians repeatedly in the lead-up to making this snap announcement. Proud Gippslanders have worked in the bush and have provided a world-class product. Multiple generations of people have toiled and helped to keep our community safe and generate the economic prosperity of my region. They have been lied to by a treacherous Premier, who told them and guaranteed that the industry would remain in place until 2030. Without any notice whatsoever, he brought forward his announcement to 1 July next year—giving less than six months notice to these proud Gippslanders.

The decision to phase out the native hardwood timber industry by 2030 was bad enough. It was based on political science, not on environmental science. At least there was time for the industry to work through some of the issues, particularly the issues around the access to fibre and log supply. This snap decision, with no consultation, showed no respect whatsoever for my community. It is devastating families today. People are losing their jobs today. People have lost their jobs already in places like the Latrobe Valley, Orbost and Heyfield.

What worries me the most is that this decision is based on ignorance. It's city-based Labor MPs bowing down to environmental extremism and absolutism. They're saying that we must never cut down a tree on public land in Victoria again. It is bizarre and it's dangerous. The alternative to sourcing our own native hardwood in a sustainable way is to import more timber from foreign countries that have lower environmental protocols. The other alternative in Victoria's case is to raid other states, get a log supply from somewhere else. That's happening already as well.

There is a better way. The practical environmentalists in my region have been working with government to try to find a way to meet their expectations while also understanding that the demand for hardwood timber is not going away. The better way is the balanced and sustainable approach that the industry was trying to achieve. We in Gippsland believe in the reserves, in the national parks and in protecting old-growth forests—we believe in that. We also believe that public land, which is effectively a mixed-species plantation, is a better alternative to monoculture plantations of hardwood, which is what the Greens will have us doing in the future. A mixed-species plantation harvested on a rotational basis of decades has more biodiversity outcomes. The regrowth and revegetation that has to occur by law provides a better environmental outcome in our communities than the monoculture plantations which the Greens seem to think will answer all of our problems when it comes to hardwood timber supply to the future.

Time is against me today, but I must make this point: people die when they live next door to poorly managed forest. Country communities are destroyed when decisions are made with no consideration of the impact on their social and economic life. And my community doesn't want handouts and they don't want a transition package—it will never be enough to replace their jobs and their lifestyles, and being forced to move away from the towns they love.

The reason we're debating this issue, which is ostensibly a state decision, in federal parliament is that it will have impacts on the cost of living, undermine our supply chains, reduce our sovereign capacity to make timber products and reduce community safety in times of bushfire, and the skills network workforce will be gone and perhaps on welfare in the federal government budget. So I urge the Prime Minister to take this issue to National Cabinet. I also urge the Prime Minister to consider a national information campaign so that people can actually understand how our world-class sustainable timber industry works in this country. It's worth fighting for.

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