10th December 2007

VICFORESTS SHOULD BE REPLACED: HALL

VicForests is “murdering” the native hardwood timber industry in Victoria and should be abolished, according to the Nationals’ Peter Hall.

Mr Hall raised the matter in Parliament last week, when he called on the State Government to replace VicForests, after what he described as “an unprecedented period of uncertainty, job losses and economic decline in Victoria's native hardwood timber industry.”

Mr Hall called for VicForests to be replaced with a new organisation, with clear objectives to advance the industry, having regard to social and environmental outcomes and not just economic ones.

“Since the introduction of the Our Forests Our Future policy in 2002 those who choose to remain in the industry were promised a future of greater security and certainty, but the exact opposite has proved to be the case,” Mr Hall told Parliament.

“The timber auction system has been a disaster. It has not served either large or small sawmill operators well. Indeed sawmills have closed since the policy was launched.

“The proposed tender system for harvest and haulage is looming as an even bigger disaster for the sector. VicForests itself has restructured, with two regional offices closing and many internal job losses. On top of that VicForests made an operating loss last year.”

Mr Hall said he feared the Government had another agenda.

“VicForests is required to follow the directions of the minister. If the government does not want a native hardwood timber industry in Victoria, it should come clean, tell us and buy out the rest of the industry.

“If it wants to keep the industry, then I say to the government: get rid of VicForests and put in place an organisation that is prepared to look after the industry, not murder it.”

Mr Hall said if the Government was not prepared to abolish VicForests, it should at least direct VicForests to abandon all plans to tender out harvest and haulage operations.

Outside Parliament, he said tendering out of harvest and haulage operations was not part of the government's Our Forests Our Future policy and nor was it part of the orders in council that established VicForests in the first place.

“I am particularly disappointed that the Minister, in answer to a question I put, indicated that he thought the balance between economic, social and environmental issues was about right at the moment!” Mr Hall said.

“Clearly he speaks to quite different people than I do, because there are many people in the timber industry who are struggling to survive and the plans by VicForests to tender out these activities will only make it worse.”

Mr Hall said the State Government needed to act now if it wanted Victoria to have a hardwood industry in the future. “That of course, is the real question: does this Government want an industry?”

Media contact:                  Peter Hall      (03) 5174 7066   or 0427 747 066