Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying, the Gillard government recognises that native forest harvesting and haulage contractors in my home state of Tasmania are facing severe financial difficulties following a downturn in demand for hardwood woodchips sourced from native forests. We will meet our commitment to provide $20 million, as the minister has said in his answer to Senator Colbeck. We will meet the commitment to provide help to forest contractors and their employees to meet the challenges facing the native forest sector in Tasmania.

The details of the package will be announced shortly, as the minister has said, and it will involve both business assistance and exit assistance and will be designed to increase viability in the sector. As Minister Ludwig also mentioned in his response to Senator Colbeck, he visited Tasmania in his first week of receiving the forestry portfolio. He went down to Tasmania in September to consult with the Tasmanian forestry contractors and other key stakeholders, including the state government, environment and industry associations and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. Since then, the federal and state departments have been working with the Tasmanian government officials, contractors associations and the relevant union, the CFMEU, to develop a $20 million package of support for the Tasmanian forest contractors and their workers. As I have said, this package will include exit assistance and business assistance.

It is a shame that, in his role as the shadow parliamentary secretary, Senator Colbeck has been playing politics with people’s livelihoods and playing on the fears of the sector for the opposition’s own political advantage. The opposition keep talking down the package the government is delivering, when during the election they promised the exact same thing. The opposition must stand up and take responsibility for their comments and stop talking down the contracting sector. The tide of negativity from the opposition only serves to sap confidence in an industry that is already struggling. I ask Senator Colbeck to support the government’s package and to stop talking down the industry.

I also want to take this opportunity to put on record that the Gillard government supports a sustainable and profitable forest industry. We value both the ecological and economic aspects of our native forest resources and believe that there needs to be a balanced and sustainable approach to native forest management. We welcome the landmark agreement between environmental NGOs and the forestry industry in Tasmania on the future of the state’s native forests. I know that many people have worked very hard to get this agreement to this stage. This is a sign of a level of cooperation between the industry and environmental movements that we have not seen in the past.

In the time remaining to me I would like to restate the government’s commitment to supporting regional jobs, to encouraging sustainable investment in forestry and to helping our forest industries prepare for future challenges. That is why we are committed to delivering the $20 million package to the contracting sector which we promised during the election and which the minister confirmed in his answer, once again, in question time today. (Time expired)