❓ Mr. Redman questions the Minister for Forestry about the impact of halting harvesting on industry job security. The Minister defends the decisions, highlighting investment and the need to balance jobs with environmental protection, accusing the opposition of undermining the industry.
AnsweredQoN 326Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
DALGARUP COUPE —
HARVESTING
326. Mr D.T. REDMAN to the Minister for Forestry:
I have a supplementary question.
Does the minister accept that his earlier decision to take two-tier karri out
of the 2020 harvest plan and the current decision to stop harvesting in the
Dalgarup coupe on the basis of a protest from a small group signals uncertainty
to an industry that is responsible for more than 3 000 jobs in Western Australia?
HARVESTING
326. Mr D.T. REDMAN to the Minister for Forestry:
I have a supplementary question.
Does the minister accept that his earlier decision to take two-tier karri out
of the 2020 harvest plan and the current decision to stop harvesting in the
Dalgarup coupe on the basis of a protest from a small group signals uncertainty
to an industry that is responsible for more than 3 000 jobs in Western Australia?
AnswerView source ↗
The member has asked me questions
about the decision not to harvest for 2020 areas of two-tier forest. I think
the answer I gave the member then is pretty much the same as the one I will
give him now. There has been more recent investment in the forestry industry
than ever happened while the member for Warren–Blackwood was the
minister. We have had a major company, Parkside Timber, that has come from
Queensland to set up shop here in WA. It has bought two mills that frankly were
on the verge of closure. It has come here and started to invest. When I met Mr
Robert Tapiolas from Parkside Timber when we made that announcement, he was
very supportive of the way that we are managing the forestry industry here in
WA. My suggestion to the member for Warren–Blackwood, if he is genuine
about supporting those jobs, is to get a bit of balance in his arguments and
his commentary. Really good things are
happening in forestry in Western Australia. Putting aside the impact that
everyone is facing because of COVID-19, there is good investment and
there is a future. But, as we on this side have always said, forestry needs to
be undertaken in a way that people have confidence that the balance is right.
We need to protect jobs, but we also need to protect those areas of the forest
that the community values very highly. That is why we on this side of the house
do not support logging in old-growth forest and we are prepared —
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
Mr D.J. KELLY : Member for
Warren–Blackwood, it is every time! What happened in Bridgetown is a great
example. There is a coupe —
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Warren–Blackwood!
Mr D.J. KELLY : Only 14
hectares of that coupe are left. We have simply paused logging to make sure
that no old-growth forest has been
inadvertently missed, because once it has been logged, that is it; it is not
old-growth forest anymore. All we have done is pause logging to make
that reassessment so that the community can be confident that old-growth forest is being protected. At the
same time, if members opposite stop talking down the industry, great investments, such as we have seen from Parkside, can continue and jobs can be
protected.
about the decision not to harvest for 2020 areas of two-tier forest. I think
the answer I gave the member then is pretty much the same as the one I will
give him now. There has been more recent investment in the forestry industry
than ever happened while the member for Warren–Blackwood was the
minister. We have had a major company, Parkside Timber, that has come from
Queensland to set up shop here in WA. It has bought two mills that frankly were
on the verge of closure. It has come here and started to invest. When I met Mr
Robert Tapiolas from Parkside Timber when we made that announcement, he was
very supportive of the way that we are managing the forestry industry here in
WA. My suggestion to the member for Warren–Blackwood, if he is genuine
about supporting those jobs, is to get a bit of balance in his arguments and
his commentary. Really good things are
happening in forestry in Western Australia. Putting aside the impact that
everyone is facing because of COVID-19, there is good investment and
there is a future. But, as we on this side have always said, forestry needs to
be undertaken in a way that people have confidence that the balance is right.
We need to protect jobs, but we also need to protect those areas of the forest
that the community values very highly. That is why we on this side of the house
do not support logging in old-growth forest and we are prepared —
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
Mr D.J. KELLY : Member for
Warren–Blackwood, it is every time! What happened in Bridgetown is a great
example. There is a coupe —
Mr D.T. Redman interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Warren–Blackwood!
Mr D.J. KELLY : Only 14
hectares of that coupe are left. We have simply paused logging to make sure
that no old-growth forest has been
inadvertently missed, because once it has been logged, that is it; it is not
old-growth forest anymore. All we have done is pause logging to make
that reassessment so that the community can be confident that old-growth forest is being protected. At the
same time, if members opposite stop talking down the industry, great investments, such as we have seen from Parkside, can continue and jobs can be
protected.
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