Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

This is a very important debate. I'm sure many in the chamber would agree that, at a time like this, in the context that we are facing—as part of a global economy and as a nation that's struggling with a number of economic issues, amongst others—it's important that we provide certainty to all parts of our community and all parts of our economy. And we need to make sure that those that generate economic activity—the small and medium businesses out there and the hundreds of thousands of people that work in those businesses—have that certainty as well.

Looking at the uncertainty we face at the moment, it is important to take stock of the context in which this private senator's bill is being debated. Just in doing that, I want to pay tribute to Senator Bridget McKenzie, who introduced the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Regional Forest Agreements) Bill in the last parliament—at a time when things were slightly different, though not incredibly different—and to the work that she's put in to drafting this bill and bringing it forward, again, in the 47th Parliament.

Here, in Australia, we're facing a great many domestic economic pressures—matters for which there is no handbook to just pull off the shelf and provide a response for government in dealing with these issues—but there is one tried and true thing that a government can adopt, and that is the matter of certainty. Look at inflation, where that's predicted to go and the impact that that's going to have on the cost of living and on all other segments of the economy; power prices, even in my home state of Tasmania, where they're going up by 12 per cent, something that is going to hit small businesses and households alike; the cost of food and of fuel; and, of course, mortgage interest rates, going in the direction that they are. All of these things are generating incredibly uncertain times, and it's something for which that we, as legislators, need to look at every tool we possibly can. The government needs to look at every tool it has at its disposal as a Commonwealth government, along with the state and territory governments, to provide certainty as one measure in responding to these times of uncertainty.

As we emerge, and continue to emerge, from COVID, where the world was an unpredictable place, we have seen an incredible pattern of behaviours and an incredible pattern of different economic indicators. Who could have predicted, through COVID, that we would have seen the growth in the housing and construction sector that we did for that time, thanks to stimulating measures on the part of many state and territory governments and, indeed, the last federal government, with its HomeBuilder program? But there is one thing that Australian businesses and households are looking for, and that is, of course, certainty. That's the one thing they're asking for—it's the one they're calling for—and this bill provides a pathway for one such example.

I think we can all acknowledge that forestry is an industry that, for time immemorial, has been kicked about by emotive arguments and often ones that lack scientific basis. That has resulted in a downscaling of the industry, in job losses and in a reduction of economic activity, particularly in regional communities. It also, of course, means that there's less of the resource available to our country—and I've already touched on the increased demand for the resource—particularly at a time when we need it. I might also point out that the resource, given the way we do forestry in this country, is a renewable resource. On top of that, given, by and large, the good track record that the forestry industry has—of course, with exception, and I think we all need to acknowledge that—and its good conservation outcomes, it's something we need to pay tribute to. This industry relies on the environment it operates in to continue to operate. They are good custodians of the forests and the land on which they work. They do it based on science. They do it based on world's best practice.

On that claim, I also make another claim: we do it better than anywhere else in the world. I'm yet to hear examples of another jurisdiction that does forestry, both native and plantation, to the same standard that we do here in Australia. Be it the regulation that is imposed on this industry at a state or territory level or, indeed, the RFAs, they do lead to positive outcomes that are of benefit to our nation and the people who live and work here. There are economic benefits, which I've already talked about, and I think they're pretty obvious for anyone who's listening. Of course, there are the environmental benefits that I talked about before. There is reforestation, which is part of our forestry management regime. We don't just go out, clear-fell and leave the land denuded; we actually seek to reforest so that we have continuing and sustained availability of resource.

Investments in innovation are central to ensuring that we have a strong and vibrant forestry future. Getting more products out of less resource is critically important to having less waste at the end of the production cycle. Of course, the science that goes into that innovation is centrally important. At the last election, both major parties committed over $100 million to science, innovation and research through the NIFPI, as it's called, and that will feed further into better outcomes. Of course, the forestry industry plays a huge part in the carbon outcome of this country, the capacity for our productive forests to sequester carbon and do a great deal of heavy lifting when it comes to our carbon abatement, the job that we have as a nation to fulfil our responsibilities. Indeed, the proud, hardworking men and women who work in this sector as well, who get besmirched every other day of the week by those who just seek to take this industry down—