Forestry Industry

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (15:03): My question is to the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development. Can the minister inform the house on how the state government has been working with the Coalition government to grow the forestry industry in South Australia?

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE (Chaffey—Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development) (15:03): I thank the member for MacKillop for his very important question because, unlike those on the other side, we are looking to grow the forestry sector. We are not looking to sell them out. We are not looking to sell out Mount Gambier and the Green Triangle. We are looking to grow the sector, grow the trees, grow the value, making sure that the forestry industry is a thriving sector here in the South Australian economy, and those on the other side can bleat all they want.

We've got the opposition leader who goes down to the South-East and says, 'I'm really sorry we sold the forests. I wouldn't have sold them if it was me.' Well, why didn't you do something about it when you ran the unions?

An honourable member: Shame!

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: Exactly. What I can say is that here as a government—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: Did that hurt?

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens can leave for 20 minutes for clapping.

The honourable member for West Torrens having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. T.J. WHETSTONE: What I can say about forestry is that the Marshall Liberal government is supporting the forestry sector. We are collaborating with the federal government and we are working together to set up the Green Triangle forestry hub. That is an initiative with both industry and all levels of government to grow the sector. It is about how we can actually grow the Green Triangle, plant more trees and make the forestry sector work much closer together.

Last year, the group of nine forestry industry companies in the Green Triangle, organised in anticipation of a federal government's pilot forestry hub, announced that there would be a continual program of growth and that there would be a serious amount of funding put to the forestry sector so that we can actually not only grow the number of trees but significantly grow the value of trees. The plan could also serve as a model for other forestry industry regions across Australia to help achieve the ambitious targets of the National Forest Industries Plan, including planting more than a billion trees nationally.

We have also seen in recent weeks the inaugural meeting of the Forest Industry Advisory Council, an 11-member committee, which was an election commitment to the forestry industry on how we were going to deal with growth, how we were going to deal with domestic supply of log and how we were actually going to give the Green Triangle certainty. Those businesses and external investment would come to the region and put money on the table to grow the sector. That is very, very important. The meeting was chaired by Mount Gambier local and forestry harvester haulage business owner, Wendy Fennell. It was a good productive meeting. It got a few of the cobwebs out of the closet because people had some uncertainty about the forward rotation sale that the previous government so gladly gave up at a rock-bottom price.

What we are seeing now is that forests are selling at record prices, where you can see that there is huge opportunity now not only to grow the value, to grow the number of products, but to value-add. It is about putting logs through a mill, not about putting logs onto ships; it is about value-adding on our shores and creating jobs in our local communities, which is very important. The Forest Industry Advisory Council is now considering all the recommendations at that inaugural meeting. We are looking at ways we can move forward and give that industry a level of confidence.

I could go on, but there is another initiative: the national institute for forest products innovation centre. That is a great initiative, a collaboration, once again, with the South Australian government and the federal government. The Coalition have committed $2 million to fund a national institute for forest products, matched by the state government's $2 million. The federal government's initiative will have a lasting legacy on forestry and the industry here in South Australia, keeping South Australia at the forefront of forestry, creating jobs, certainty and growing our economy.