What the Tasmanian Liberals will do:

Provide $7 million to support a sustainable forestry industry in Tasmania, adopting best practice and providing local jobs into the future.

A Hodgman Liberal Government believes that, in forestry, we have an industry that we should support and that we should be proud of.  It is not without its challenges – it is renewable; it is a sustainable resource based industry that employs thousands of Tasmanians, and it’s an industry that we should continue to develop and invest in.

Tasmania has a world class forestry industry operating in a small State which has over 1,000,000 hectares of our forests reserved.  In spite of industry challenges, forestry is fundamentally a world-class industry that sustainably manages our precious forests, directly employs thousands of Tasmanians and indirectly employs many thousands more.

We must also never forget that Tasmania has the highest percentage of its landmass in permanently protected reserves of any jurisdiction anywhere in the world.

The forestry industry is an industry that we can all rightly be proud of, and we will be doing all that we can to make sure that it emerges once again as a stronger, sustainable driving force behind our economy.

We do need to resolve the age-old problem with shipping woodchips overseas, and that’s why we support the pulp mill project.  If resolving the forest conflict means closing a sustainable forestry industry in this State, the Tasmanian Liberals cannot and will not support that.  But we do support, and will continue to support, the forest industry that focuses on best practice in environmental management and sustainability – and that is what, in government, we would encourage and promote.

A Hodgman Liberal Government will actively promote best practice and investment in the forest industry, which is the best way to secure local jobs and provide new employment opportunities for young Tasmanians.

Resource security
There is no doubt that the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA), first established in 1997 by State and Federal Liberal governments, and the Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement have brought major benefits to the industry, providing a strong pathway into the future and significant outcomes in terms of the Tasmanian environment.

Forestry is by its nature a renewable and sustainable industry, but to deliver that outcome it must also be environmentally responsible.  The Government must also, in cooperation with the industry, establish a policy framework which promotes value-adding and downstream processing through private sector investment, which can only be achieved by a positive investment climate.

A Hodgman Liberal Government will provide resource security to the forestry industry. We strongly support the Regional Forest Agreement and the Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement.  They have together provided a secure future, as well as improving forest practices and protecting for all time environmentally significant parts of the State.

A Hodgman Liberal Government believes that if a party is meeting its obligations under an RFA to an acceptable standard, the RFA should be extended.  Accordingly, on election we will begin negotiations with the Federal Government not only to provide a 20 year evergreen agreement from 2017 but to provide for rolling renewals after each five-yearly review.  If the performance requirements are not met, no extension of the RFA will be offered until it can be demonstrated that the requirements are being met.

A rolling renewal system would incorporate changing policy and industry needs such as climate change adaptation and take into account projections of the availability of the resource.

A Hodgman Liberal Government will establish an independent review of the forest resource available on private and public land in Tasmania and that the resource promised to Ta Ann Tasmania veneer mills is available and that supply to those mills does not adversely affect traditional sawmill resources.  We will ensure that such a review is conducted in such a manner as to permit a comprehensive assessment at a regional level of the available resource, the current and potential processing capacity and market availability to ensure a strategic framework exists to assess potential industry growth.

Pulp Mill
The Tasmanian Liberals strongly support the construction of a pulp mill at Longreach, provided it meets, and continues to meet, State and Federal environmental and other requirements.

We believe it is essential that the Liberal Party’s support for a pulp mill using 100 per cent plantation-based timber is re-stated, and that the proponent should get on with finalising arrangements for the project to be constructed.

Plantations
Growing trees is no different from growing any other crop – trees are a renewable resource.

We believe that plantation forestry is a significant part of the sector and a major component of the economy of hundreds of Tasmanian rural towns.

We re-affirm our support for the Plantation 2020 Vision and we will implement the commitments contained within that strategy.

Forest Industry Mediation Service
We will provide $600,000 to establish a Forest Industry Mediation Service which will provide a non-complex way of resolving disagreements between forest contractors, and forest companies along the lines of a small claims court – with minimal red tape and formality.

Assistance for Forest Contractors
The Tasmanian Liberals recognise the significant effect the downturn in woodchip markets has had on forest contractors.  We will provide $1.2 million additional assistance to a Forest Contractors Assistance Fund to help contractors meet urgent interest requirements on existing loans, with eligible contractors applying to the Department of Economic Development for assistance.

Legislation
We will introduce amendments to Parliament to the Forest Practices Act 1985 to cement in law that the Forest Practices Board must examine not only environmental impacts of decisions they make, but also social and economic impacts – this is the ‘triple bottom line’ approach.

We support the right to legitimate protest, but not where it involves obstruction to people earning a living or vandalism of vehicles and machinery.  We will therefore re-introduce legislation to tighten the law in regard to damage and obstruction to machinery in any workplace, including forestry and agriculture.  This legislation was opposed by Labor in the last Parliament, but we believe the law must be strengthened in this regard.

We will also introduce amendments to the Forestry (Fair Contracts Code) Act 2001 to ensure that contracts under the Code are explicitly required to be fairly negotiated.

Supporting sustainability into the future

• The Tasmanian Liberals support planning for the future in the forest industry.  We will provide $750,000 per year to support the Tasmanian Timber brand.
• We will also provide $500,000 to support the extension of chain of custody certification for processors and forest certification for private forest growers.

Forest Industry Plan
We believe The Forests and Forest Industry Council’s Forest Industry Plan provides a strong strategy for future growth of the industry.  It identifies new opportunities for investment and the potential to create 2,000 new jobs.  This has the potential to double the economic contribution to the State to $4 billion each year.

We will show our commitment to good planning in forestry by providing $2 million to implement The Forests and Forest Industry Council’s Forest Industry Plan.

Support for training and re-skilling in the industry
A Hodgman Liberal Government will provide funding of up to $300,000 over two years to the not-for-profit organisation ForestWorks Tasmania, to enable it to continue to deliver opportunities for training and skill development within the forestry, wood, paper and timber products industry.

This will help protect local jobs, maintain existing expertise in the forest training and skill development sector and ensure that re-skilling opportunities for workers leaving the forestry sector temporarily or permanently are maximized.

Current funding for ForestWorks Tasmania ceases in September 2010 and the Tasmanian Liberals believe it should be continued.

Promoting forestry
A Hodgman Liberal Government will work with the industry to identify barriers to further investment in the industry and will undertake joint approaches to remove those impediments.

Politically-motivated misinformation about the forest industry has affected Tasmania’s reputation interstate and internationally.  To support an informed and rational debate, a Hodgman Liberal Government will provide $200,000 to promote the sustainable nature of the forest industry in Tasmania and interstate and will encourage other stakeholders in the industry to also provide support.  The nature of the promotion will be finalised with stakeholders and the industry but will include educational material which emphasizes the environmental practices in the industry.  We will examine using the Tasmanian Timber Promotions Board to assist in this.

Government procurement
We will encourage State and Local Government to actively encourage the use of quality Tasmanian timber in construction where that timber is certified under an internationally accredited forest certification scheme, adopting best practice building techniques to minimise greenhouse gas emissions and maximise the use of renewable energy.

Given the combined purchasing power of the government and local councils, there is merit in examining whether the policy adopted in New Zealand to positively promote the utilization and procurement of locally produced timber materials in government building and construction is suitable for adoption in Tasmania.  Such an approach would also assist Tasmania to meet its goals to reduce carbon emissions.

Chemical use
Assessment of chemical use in any industry in Tasmania must be science and evidence based, and forestry is no exception to that principle.  The Tasmanian Liberals have already announced a significant $950,000 Pesticides and Chemicals Testing policy which increases resources for testing of pesticides and chemicals in water.  We will ensure thresholds are clearly established to ensure water quality is not compromised and we will be guided in this by the relevant national and international standards.

It is essential that the public have confidence that any testing regime is not only based on science but is completely independent.  We are also committed to an independent scientific inquiry relating to the St Helens water issue.

In terms of what chemicals are safe to be used in Tasmania, how they should be used and on what crops, a Hodgman Liberal Government would be guided by the independent scientific assessments undertaken by the regulatory body, the APVMA.