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

I rise to raise my concerns with the illogical and reckless decision by the state Labor government in Victoria to ban the native hardwood timber industry in that state. This is a world-class and sustainable industry, which is being shut down without any due respect to the hardworking timber community families in my electorate, and they've been given less than six months notice that they'll be losing their jobs.

Now, some of those opposite have suggested to me that this is the federal parliament and this is a state issue. I can understand, to some extent, why they would be arguing about why I would be raising this issue and involving the federal parliament in this debate. The reason I'm doing it, and the reason I'll continue to do it, is that this issue has both national and international implications.

I stand here today out of sadness and frustration, and a fair level of disgust as well, that the communities of Victoria that rely on the hardwood timber industry have been treated so poorly. But I want the parliament to understand that it's not just about the communities in places like Gippsland who will be impacted. This Victorian ban will result in some very obvious implications for the rest of the nation. What we will see is the continued demand for hardwood in this country, and what that means is that Victoria will simply raid other states for their hardwood supply. Victoria will also go overseas to source timber from other countries, many of which have poorer environmental protocols than our own nation does. So, just as a matter of pure logic, this does not make sense. Three of the top five countries from which we currently import timber products into Australia are China, Malaysia and Indonesia. Now, I'm not going to stand here today and criticise those countries for their environmental protocols, but does anyone in this place really believe that those three countries have higher environmental standards than the Australian hardwood timber industry? No-one believes that to be true.

So this issue has federal implications, and I want people to think about the national supply chain. A lot of people don't think about the national supply chain very much, because they just go to the grocery store and the food's on the shelves and they get the products and they go home. But think about the national supply chain. Products are shipped around our vast nation on hardwood pallets. It's not the sexiest industry in the world, I confess. Hardwood pallets underpin the national supply chain. These pallets are made from hardwood—some of them, in my electorate of Gippsland, and some in Dandenong in Victoria as well. When we have a shortage of pallets brought on by a supply problem with hardwood, it will impact food delivery.

Now, if you're still sitting at home saying: 'Well, this doesn't bother me. It's not really going to impact on me at all,' then try this one. I remember, as a young boy, working for my dad, who was in the recycling business, and we ran out of hardwood pallets to return empty bottles to the Carlton & United Brewery. Guess what? Then we started running out of beer as well, because the pallets are used hundreds, if not thousands, of times, as part of the supply chain. If we don't have hardwood pallets—if we don't have hardwood timber coming from the Victorian industry—then you won't have food on your table and beer will not be distributed this Christmas. Surely, someone, now, is starting to understand the importance of the national supply chain and the importance of the hardwood timber industry.

This is a social, environmental, economic and cultural disaster for my community, but it's a Dan-made disaster. It's a Dan-made disaster because Premier Dan Andrews has relied entirely on political science. There's no environmental science behind this at all. It's purely about the politics of this issue. And this Dan-made disaster is going to devastate country towns.

I have come in here on several occasions and put this challenge: for a single Victorian Labor MP to come to my electorate and understand the industry, or even to show just a tiny ounce of courage and raise their concerns with the Premier on the course he's taking here in Victoria.

What's also going to happen is that my community is going to be less safe because those skilled workers in the bush will not be there in the next bushfire, and their equipment won't be there either. So, at a time when people are being forced to leave the towns they love and families are struggling with the cost of living, we have the Premier of Victoria, with his political science, valuing Green preferences more than blue-collar votes. I want to encourage the House not to sleepwalk into this Dan-made disaster.