Parliamentary Friends of Forestry

The Hon. T.T. NGO (14:43): My question is to the Minister for Forest Industries. Can the minister tell the council about the recent Parliamentary Friends of Forestry event held here in Parliament House?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (14:43): I thank the honourable member for his question. Hopefully members in this place are aware that during the last sitting week the annual Parliamentary Friends of Forestry event was held here in Parliament House. It was a great opportunity to bring together members of the forest industry and parliamentarians in a bipartisan or, indeed, multipartisan manner to raise awareness of the industry.

I would like to thank the co-chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Forestry group—the Hon. Reggie Martin and the Hon. Nicola Centofanti—for the work done to ensure that the event was a success. I would also like to thank Nathan Paine, Tammy Auld and Haley Welch from the South Australian Forest Products Association for their roles in the event.

I also want to place on the record my thanks to the large number of forest industry representatives who made the trip from Mount Gambier to Adelaide to attend the event, including Tammy Auld, John Forster, Adrian Flowers, Odette Lubbe, Darren Sheldon, Bed Edser, Simon Angove, Jessica Douglas, Charlene Riley and Professor Jeff Morrell, the newly appointed director of the Forestry Centre of Excellence.

The state government is very conscious of the significant contribution the industry provides to the South Australian economy, contributing approximately $3 billion to the South Australian economy each year and employing approximately 21,000 people directly and indirectly. Sixty per cent of Australia's agricultural timbers, such as poles, posts and fencing, and 48 per cent of Australia's packaging and industrial-grade timber comes from the South Australian forest industry.

Many members will recall the gift bag that was distributed to members of both the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly to mark the event and to highlight the significant role the forest industry plays on a daily basis in everyone's lives. The bag included a toilet roll; a cheese board made of wood—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Not made of cheese—a paper bag containing fruit, and thank you to the produce market for the fruit; a bottle of wine, which of course had a label made of paper; an egg carton which, as well as the carton itself, reflected that wood shavings are used for the chickens that obviously lay the eggs; a miniature pallet; and a large shopping bag made of paper.

It was particularly interesting to hear the information around the pallets. Of course, we all know that timber pallets are in use, but pretty much every product that we use has utilised a pallet in some part of its production and transport.

The Hon. E.S. Bourke: Are they meant to be a coaster?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: The little miniature pallet, I hear the Hon. Emily Bourke ask if it is to be a coaster, and I would certainly suggest that that is an excellent use. Perhaps we could all have them sitting here instead of our little red coasters for our glasses of water as a constant daily reminder of the importance of the forest industry. I would certainly be in favour of that occurring.

I am sure all members would agree that we all consume or use something to do with the forest industry I would say at least once a day. All of these products are reliant on the forest industry.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: Or possibly more, but we won't go into those details. While some may have the perception that the forest industry is simply producing timber for housing, incredibly important as that is, the reality is we use timber-related products on a daily basis. This is evidence of the crucial role that the timber industry plays in our state.

The parliamentary friends event was a wonderful opportunity to highlight both the importance of the industry but also the impact that it has on our day-to-day life. All of this underpins why the state government has made a significant contribution to the forest industry since coming to government. This includes:

$16 million over 10 years for the Forestry Centre of Excellence to allow long-term research and development capability and certainty to the forest industry in South Australia;

providing $2 million over three years to develop a forest products domestic manufacturing and infrastructure master plan, including a focus on future skills needs;

in terms of fire towers, providing $2.34 million to replace fire towers with new technologies, such as camera technology to provide a landscape-level fire detection program to protect key forest assets and the communities that surround them;

$450,000 to Tree Breeding Australia to support the construction of a new research facility in Mount Gambier; and

a partnership with the South Australian Forest Products Association for the new forest and timber industries career campaign, called 'This Is Wood Work', a powerful tool promoting career pathways and job options within the timber industries.

It was also great to see Parliament House lit up in green on the evening to acknowledge the event. I am sorry to my Greens colleagues here; it was in honour of the forestry industry rather than your party. I thank the Speaker of the House of Assembly for facilitating this. I look forward to continuing to speak in this place about the state government's ongoing investment and support of the incredibly important forest industry in South Australia.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!