Limestone Coast Timber Industry

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (Leader of the Opposition) (17:30): I move:

1. That a select committee of the Legislative Council be established to inquire into and report on the exporting of wood fibre and other matters regarding the timber industry in the Limestone Coast of South Australia, with particular reference to—

(a) whether the exporting of wood fibre is in compliance with the conditions of sale of the radiata pine forests in the Limestone Coast, sold by the previous state Labor government;

(b) the volume of radiata pine log being exported from the Limestone Coast area by all growers;

(c) the economic benefit and employment opportunities that could be gained through additional wood fibre based industries should the current exported logs be made available for processing in South Australia;

(d) options for increasing the availability of logs to South Australian processors;

(e) a review of water licensing laws applying to forest estates;

(f) opportunities to strengthen the forest and timber products industries in the Limestone Coast of South Australia, and in particular:

(i) barriers to investment in timber resource and processing capacity;

(ii) opportunities to expand the plantation estate, including greater utilisation of farm forestry;

(iii) strategies available to timber processing businesses to secure long-term timber supply;

(iv) strategies to grow domestic manufacturing;

(v) opportunities to maximise returns for timber processors from forest and timber residues;

(g) policies in other states to constrain resource for specified markets;

(h) the promotion of the economic contribution of the forest and timber products industry to the South Australian community; and

(i) any other related matters.

2. That the minutes of evidence presented to the Select Committee of the Fifty-Fourth Parliament on Matters Relating to the Timber Industry in the Limestone Coast, tabled in the council on 8 February 2022, be referred to this select committee.

3. That this council permits the select committee to authorise the disclosure or publication, as it sees fit, of any evidence or documents presented to the committee prior to such evidence being presented to the council.

I rise to speak to this motion briefly, and I do not envisage this to be a controversial motion. The Hon. Clare Scriven established the committee in May 2019 under the previous Liberal government, and during its three years it heard a substantial amount of evidence and received a number of submissions.

The committee heard evidence from government departments and agencies, such as PIRSA and Forestry South Australia; local government; large timber producers such as OneFortyOne Plantations; and industry groups such as the South Australian Timber Processors Association, the Australian Forest Products Association, Forest and Wood Products Australia and the Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub. It also heard evidence from a number of small and medium businesses, as well as individuals from various sections of the timber industry.

It should be noted that the committee suspended its business for a period of time beginning March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and this resulted in a delay in the committee's work. Consequently, as stated in its interim report, the committee did not have sufficient time to finalise and table its report before the end of the Fifty-Fourth Parliament. As a result, the committee made a recommendation that the Legislative Council of the Fifty-Fifth Parliament establish a select committee in this parliamentary session to receive the evidence tabled by the committee of the Fifty-Fourth Parliament and make a final report to the council.

I therefore stand before you today moving that this committee be established—or perhaps re-established is a better term. I would like to thank the minister for the previous work that she did as Chair of this committee. I do hope this motion receives support from all members in the chamber. The recommendation from the previous committee was very clear, and I am looking forward to continuing the work of this committee.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.