Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

(—) (): I am delighted to inform Senator Bushby and the Senate that there is real good news on the forestry employment front. Total employment the forestry sector, which includes forestry, wood pulp and paper manufacturing, declined from 76,000 to 61,000 during the stewardship of those opposite. Now onto Senator Colbeck's stewardship, employment has rebounded to 70,500. That is a substantial increase of 9,100 jobs or nearly 15 per cent over the previous year. This is testament to the recovery with in the forestry sector, which comprises upwards of five per cent of the sales and service income of total manufacturing industry in this country. Under the previous government, the contribution of the forestry sector to the GDP declined from 0.7 to 0.45, with most of the decline in sawmilling and further manufacturing. These are the areas that have recovered the most in the past 12 months. There has been a 20 per cent increase in exports of sawn wood and a 21 per cent increase of wood based panels. Paper and paperboard exports have increased from $700 to 850 million worth. Packaging and industrial paper exports have increased by 15.2 per cent. These wooden paper-based exports are helping to provide a brighter future for regional towns right around Australia, especially in Victoria and in Tasmania. Despite the best efforts of the Greens saying that forestry is a dying sector, it has found a rebirth under this government, with 9,000 extra jobs in the last 12 months. (Time expired)