Hon. Louise Kingston questions the Minister for Forestry regarding the impact of the new forest management plan on timber businesses, specifically concerning closures, compensation, and inaccuracies in the FPC's published timber supplier list. The Minister acknowledges the issues and states the website information is under review.

AnsweredQoN 1605Legislative Council
Asked
28 November 2024
Portfolio
Forestry

QuestionView source ↗

FORESTRY — TIMBER SUPPLIERS
1605. Hon LOUISE KINGSTON to the Minister for Forestry:
The new forest management plan has
been in operation for nearly a year, and a number of timber businesses have
progressively closed their doors over the three disastrous years since the
current wrecking policy was announced.
(1) Does the government know which
timber businesses are still operating?
(2) Does the government know which
businesses have closed and received compensation?
(3) Why has the
FPC published on its website a document called ''Find a timber supplier''
that lists businesses that have been closed and paid out for more than a year,
and excludes businesses that continue to operate and have contracts with FPC,
such as Dwellingup Sawmill, and Jarrahwood and Yornup sawmills?
(4) Does this
failure indicate that the FPC has no interest in supporting a viable timber
industry, and no understanding of the current business operations?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) Yes, where the business has a contract
with FPC.
(2) Yes. Under
the state government's $80 million native forest transition plan, eligible
businesses received payments to support diversification activities or to exit
the industry, as well as further support redundancy payments, site clean-up and
equipment reimbursement.
(3) The website
information is currently being reviewed following significant changes to the
structure of the industry.
(4) No.

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