Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

I actually agree with a lot of what Senator Roberts has said. 'Hypocrisy green' is thy middle name. Yet again, we see the Greens trying to absolve their guilt by exporting our problems. What we see time and time again is the Greens trying to shut down industry in Australia and trying to shut down productivity in Australia, but they're not actually doing anything to sort out the demand.

There are supply-and-demand scenarios across the board. We shouldn't grow rice in Australia but we can eat rice because it's a healthy food—it's not red meat. So, to lower emissions, we've got to have a vegetarian diet but we can't grow our own rice, so we'll take rice from countries that have lesser environmental records, worse workplace practices and worse chemical usage rather than have a very sustainable rice industry here in Australia. We shouldn't grow cotton in Australia because, apparently, cotton is a very evil crop, despite the fact that it is an annual crop and can be turned off and on depending on the weather conditions for the season. It is sustainable. Australia grows the most water-efficient cotton in the world and it is a natural fibre, but we shouldn't grow it here in Australia because the Greens don't like it. The Greens don't want to see us use our water on growing a cotton crop but they're happy to take cotton from other nations with lesser environmental standards, worse chemical usage standards and worse workplace practices because it makes them feel good. And now, today, we see the Greens, again, trying to absolve their guilt, saying we need to end our native forest logging here in Australia so they can feel good about themselves.

But we're not going to stop needing hardwood timber products—so what is the solution? How do we meet the Greens' demands to fix the housing crisis if we can't access hardwood timber for the housing frames? The only solution is that we import the timber. And where do we import it from? Guess what? From countries that do not have the same environmental standards, workplace standards or human rights standards. They want to shut down one of the world's most sustainable logging industries that is highly regulated, is actually good for the environment and contributes to Australia's carbon capture and storage targets so that they can import timber products from countries that see trees ripped out of the ground, with no requirements to replant them, and native habitats in countries overseas absolutely destroyed. But it's okay, because the Greens can sit back within this place with halos on, telling the government they've got to fix everything from housing crises to food shortages but they can't do it with anything we actually grow and produce in this country; they've got to look overseas.

Who bears the brunt of these misplaced policies? It is Australian consumers that are already paying for this Labor government's failed economic policies. Can you imagine if, after the next election, we are confronted with a minority Greens-Labor government, and what that will lead to? We will see the demise of some of our last remaining highly productive industries because the Greens won't let us dig anything out of the ground, the Greens won't let us grow anything with irrigated agriculture and the Greens won't let us sustainably harvest our timber products.

Let me remind people that in Australia, under our laws, native trees that are harvested must be replanted so that they can be harvested again. It is a renewable product. Trees, as they grow, absorb carbon, and when they are harvested and turned into a timber product that carbon is captured permanently. As Senator Roberts said, across our country there's only about 134 million hectares of native forests. On an annual basis, only 0.06 per cent that area is harvested. That is only six out of every 10,000 trees. This is not an unsustainable industry; this is a highly sustainable industry.

And I repeat, demand for these products is not going down. In fact, demand for these products is increasing. We have a growing population. We have migration through the roof, under the Labor government's policies, and we are struggling to house people. And yet the Greens solution is to cease producing one of the fundamental inputs for housing construction. But not on this side of the chamber, not over here. We support our forestry industry, which employs thousands of people—from the loggers to the truckies that transport the logs to the sawmillers who turn the logs into the end-use products and to the retailers that actually onsell the products. We support them. We stand behind our forestry industry because our forestry industry is sustainable. They use science. They incorporate science into their daily procedures. They measure. They leave the remnant trees behind to ensure that there are enough knotholes and habitat for our native flora and fauna.

In fact, just this morning I heard a report from Coffs Harbour about Forestry New South Wales. They've actually ceased harvesting timber in an area where an emu nest was found. This is a small, isolated emu species. They suspect there are only 50 left in the wild. Forestry New South Wales found a nest where the father was sitting on eggs with the chicks. They ceased harvesting and activity in the area to let those chicks hatch. And while Saving our Species went and harvested a number of the eggs to incubate, hoping they'd hatch, they also left some with the father. I'm very pleased to report that the father sat on three of those eggs, and two of them successfully hatched. And now that emu and his chicks are wandering through that area of forestry because our native timber loggers and foresters care. They care about our environment. They want to make sure they operate sustainably. They want to make sure that we have healthy native flora and fauna in these areas, and that's why they only take six out of every 10,000 trees.

We won't be supporting this bill by any measure. We will be supporting our forestry industry. I urge this chamber to vote against this bill.