Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

To be clear, the legislation states that 'the primary purpose of a harvesting operation is taken to be a high value process only if the total financial value of the products of the high value process is higher than the financial value of other products of the harvesting operation'. The legislation defines 'high value process' as 'the production of sawlogs, veneer, poles, piles, girders, wood for carpentry or craft uses, or oil products'. Senator Milne is inviting me to speculate or comment on the financial viability of forest operations. As I commented before, I appreciate that the Australian Greens and nowadays the Australian Labor Party have a fundamental objection to native forestry activities. The government does not. The government believes that this is an appropriate mechanism that will provide an opportunity for what may otherwise be used as waste or for lower value purposes to be used for the higher value purpose of energy generation—so long as the primary purpose is of a higher value than the actual energy generation revenue that is recorded as a result of the activity.