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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-03-10 Daily Xml
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FORESTRYSA

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:33): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government a question relating to the South-East forests.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: The forestry stakeholder group in the South-East this week released an independent community impact statement quantifying the effects on the South-East community of the government's proposal to forward sell the harvesting rights of ForestrySA plantations. The community impact statement undertaken by resource economist Dr Bob Smith finds that by 2027-28 the purchaser would have the option to sell 100 per cent of logs outside the South-East region, and there is the potential, by 2021, for around 40 per cent of logs from ForestrySA's softwood estate to be exported, reducing wood-based manufacturing jobs in the South-East area. The Mayor of the District Council of Grant, Mr Richard Sage, said:

The Community Impact Statement indicates that ForestrySA supports around 2,100 direct jobs and almost 1,000 indirect jobs in the Lower South East region. There is no doubt that this proposal would have a devastating effect on the local economy if up to 3,000 jobs were lost within this region.

The Mayor of the City of Mt Gambier, Mr Perryman, said:

If the State Government proceeds with a forward sale, in as little as 16 years every log harvested from our state owned forests could be exported out of Australia for processing leaving no logs for our local mills, and no jobs for our local community.

In statements to the council on 8 February, the minister gave a series of assurances which I would summarise as follows:

The government is committed...that the industry remains a viable, strong, important industry into the future that has at its core a strong employment base.

In the context of those statements, I ask the minister:

1. How is consideration of options of selling 100 per cent of logs outside the South-East by 2027-28 consistent with the government's commitment to the future of the industry?

2. Given the government's commitment to ensure a viable, strong, important industry into the future, how long is 'into the future' and is 2027 beyond the future?

3. Are the government's commitments to the communities of the South-East in relation to forests any more reliable than its commitments to no privatisations?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (14:35): I thank the honourable member for his question. I am happy to tell him that I agree with me entirely on this matter. What I have said is what the government has consistently said. We have commissioned a regional impact statement. We have commissioned consultants who are putting together the regional impact statement, and the government will consider that carefully, when it is made, in relation to the forward selling of the forests.

I am aware that another report has been commissioned and, as I think the Treasurer indicated on radio, he is happy to look at it, but essentially the regional impact statement has been commissioned by the government and we are paying for that. Obviously we would not be doing that if we did not have some confidence that the statement will be of great use and utility in putting together the government's response on whether or not the forward sale of the forest harvests would proceed.

What I have said is what the government has said: that we are committed to a sustainable, ongoing, healthy forest industry that will remain a major source of employment in the South-East and wherever else the forests are grown into the future. How extraordinary that the honourable member is a member of the party that sold off the processing—the sawmills—back when it was in government, yet here he is suddenly crying crocodile tears about the people of the South-East and their forests. We know very well that a lot of this is about who will become the next Liberal candidates for MacKillop and Mount Gambier at the next election, and that is the prism through which a lot of the activity in relation to this campaign has to be judged.

I welcome the people of the South-East expressing their views, and many have done that, but I will not accept the misrepresentation that has occurred from a number of people in relation to what the government is intending to do and what factors the government will consider in making a decision about the forward sale of the forests. We will make a decision in the best interests of the state and the best interests of the people of the South-East to ensure a stable, productive, long-term forest industry in the South-East.

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