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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-11-08 Daily Xml
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FORESTRYSA

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (15:01): My question is again to the Premier. Why does the Premier support forward selling the harvest rights to the state's forests?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Treasurer, Minister for Workers Rehabilitation, Minister for Defence Industries, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (15:01): Madam—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Davenport!

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: In fact, the Premier has—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley, you're warned. I can't hear the Treasurer speaking.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: The Premier has indicated, I think, his intention to travel down into the South-East in the very near future and, no doubt, he will hear from local residents and local businesses any concerns they have. The simple fact is that the proposal to forward sell the forest rotations in the South-East was first announced by the previous treasurer as part of the Mid-Year Budget Review in 2009, if I recall correctly, so this is a proposal that has been much discussed and I have answered extensively questions—

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Davenport, you've asked your question.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I have answered extensively questions on this issue. We have established a South-East forestry roundtable to provide advice directly to me on what the conditions of the sale should be to ensure the future viability of the forestry industry in the South-East. We have been working very closely with industry representatives to make sure that this decision to forward sell the rotations does not have an adverse impact on the economy of the South-East. I think this is an important reform.

The simple reason, as I have often said, for our undertaking this extensive reform is that we have a capital expenditure budget of $9.1 billion over the forward estimates.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: It is the largest capital investment ever undertaken in this state's history and it makes sense in that environment to realise some value that you have in other assets where it no longer makes sense for the government—

Mr Pederick interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the member for Hammond!

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: You don't need to get so angry, Adrian. I see before me—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will sit down until there is some quiet.

Mr Pisoni: You're not in Rann's office now.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Unley, you are warned for the second time.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Treasurer.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: It simply makes sense for to us to realise the value in some of those assets to enable us to invest in important projects such as the duplication of the Southern Expressway, such as the South Road superway, and any number of large capital projects that are happening over the next few years.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! We are not extending question time today. The member for Torrens.

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