Question Time

FORESTRYSA

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:31): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Forests a question about the board of ForestrySA.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The South Australian Forestry Corporation board consists of five independent non-executive directors. The current chair is Mr John Ross AM. Mr Ross is well known in the state's South-East. Members in this chamber may not know much about the South-East, but one of its chief industries is forestry. Mr Ross AM is not just well known, he is also well liked. The voters of the Tatiara district elected him to the local council 32 years ago and he has been returned election after election continuously since then.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: Former national president, wasn't he?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: As my colleague the Hon. John Dawkins interjects, he is a former national president of the Australian Local Government Association. I know interjections are out of order, Mr President, but I thought that was an appropriate point to make.

Mr Ross AM also knows a thing or two about forestry as chair of the public authority which provides plantation timber to sawmills, processors and the industry. That is ForestrySA. It manages forest resources, its research has improved forest management, and it does all that at a profit. Because it is publicly owned, ForestrySA's profit goes back to the taxpayer, year after year, season after season. The profit means extra money for public services in the South-East and of course here in Adelaide as well, and, in fact, statewide.

Premier Jay Weatherill and Jack Snelling have hatched a fiendish plot to forward sell the forests at a huge loss to the South-East, the people of Adelaide and the rest of the state. ForestrySA, through its board, under the eminent chair John Ross AM, naturally oppose the sale. Others on the board are the chartered accountant and national corporate adviser Stephen Duncan, business consultant and commercial adviser Julie Obst, Graham Foreman and Kathryn Adams.

What did Premier Weatherill and Snelling do, faced with this uncomfortable advice from the board of ForestrySA, and what did the then minister for forests, Michael O'Brien, do on 20 October? They sacked the chairman and the majority of the directors. In his last act as minister before he himself was removed from the portfolio, Mr O'Brien wrote to John Ross, Stephen Duncan and Graham Foreman to say their appointments will not be renewed. My questions to the minister are:

1. Has she been to the South-East since becoming Minister for Forests?

2. Has the board been dry rotted or simply white-anted?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the Status of Women) (14:33): I thank the honourable member for his question. Indeed, South Australia's forest industry is one of Australia's most significant plantations, of course based on a renewable—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Answer the question instead of telling us—

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: —I am more than happy to answer the question, Mr President; that is what I am attempting to do—resource sector. We have significant plantings here in South Australia. This government has made a decision to sell the forward sales of some of ForestrySA's plantations. In May 2011 the Treasurer announced that forward sale of ForestrySA's harvest rights. The Treasurer, however, also announced that the government would do a number of things to ensure the sustainability of the industry in that local region and also to make sure that we looked after employment in that region.

What the Treasurer did was establish the industry round table to recommend to the government the conditions of any forward sale before going to market in the longer term, and they were conditions that would address the long-term viability of the industry. That round table has been put in place and has been meeting for some time now. He also provided sawmill owners with ForestrySA log supply contracts, with an option to extend those contracts by up to a further five years to help protect job security in the area.

Also, he ensured that any sale conditions included that the new purchaser would be required to agree to a rotation length consistent with the current and planned ForestrySA standards, to maintain the standard of forest products in the region, and that is put in place to help ensure, for instance, that everything cannot be logged, felled or harvested in one year and left barren for the rest of the time. It ensures a more staggered approach.

He also ensured that there was in place a commitment from the new purchaser to match ForestrySA's current level of planned viable domestic supply to guarantee a future local timber industry, and he also required that the successful purchaser report yearly to the government. As I said, a number of measures were put in place to ensure that the long-term viability of the industry was protected.

It is obvious and I am very much aware, having spoken to a number of people in my role as regional development minister and also as former local government minister, that the forward sale of these forests is unpopular, particularly amongst locals. We are very aware of that. The Treasurer has worked very hard with the local community, as I said, to identify issues and attempt to address those issues, and he continues to do that.

The ForestrySA board is recognised by the minister and the government as a really important board. It manages the forestry reserves here in South Australia and it has very high levels of duties to discharge. All board members' two-year terms, including the current chair's, were due to expire at the end of December, I am advised. No board members have been sacked. We see the opposition come here and mislead this place time and again. No-one has been sacked.

It is not unusual for this government and it was certainly not unusual for the former Liberal government. It is important that the same board members do not stay in place indefinitely. It is most important that we create renewal. The former Liberal government had not sought to renew certain board positions, I am absolutely confident, on many occasions. This was in accordance with the proper process. It was obviously a decision that was made by the former minister, minister O'Brien.

As I said, it is most important that a process of board member renewal and also rejuvenation continues to occur. I have been advised that the recently announced ForestrySA board members contain a high mix and level of experience with a broad range of skill sets, and I am quite confident that the new board will be well equipped to discharge their duties. I reiterate that these decisions were made in accordance with the proper process.

In terms of my visiting the South-East, I have arranged to visit there next week when parliament is not sitting. I think I am due to visit there. If it is not the South-East, it is the Riverland. If it is not next week, it will be the week after that. In any event, I certainly have visits to both the Riverland and the South-East coming up in the foreseeable future, and they are in my diary.