2016-04-13
Ms DUNN (Eastern Metropolitan) — My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Agriculture. The Victorian government and VicForests are facing the same market failures for woodchips as the New South Wales government. The Australia Institute has released a discussion paper entitled Money doesn’t grow on trees — The financial and economic losses of native forestry in NSW. The discussion paper contends native forest logging will never generate a profit and that pursuing contracts to supply biomass power plants is not going to help.
In fact the paper concludes that the highest economic use of native forestry would be to leave the trees standing and that New South Wales Forestry Corporation should push for the commonwealth Emissions Reduction Fund to recognise that protecting forests from logging is a method of avoiding greenhouse emissions by including that in the scheme. In this way, it says:
… Forestry Corporation could finally begin generating decent earnings by simply ceasing native forest logging.
The same goes for Victoria’s forests, not to mention the economic benefit of avoiding water loss from logging our catchments. Logged forests in East Gippsland and New South Wales end up in the same woodchip facility at Eden, New South Wales, which is currently called ANWE or Allied Natural Wood Exports. In a report on ABC News on 30 March ANWE spokesperson Kel Henry confirmed that the demand for native forest pulp logs had fallen and that the company was moving away from native forest logging and towards plantation sources for pulp wood, veneer wood and whole log exports.
The writing is on the wall. Continuing to log native forests for a few more years will not lead to any long‑term security for the native forest logging industry. All it will create are extinctions and greenhouse gas emissions.
The action I request is that the minister turn off the tap of public money that is keeping VicForests afloat. All those grants and subsidies to VicForests are money down the drain and could be better utilised on behalf of taxpayers. I ask the minister to use the money saved on staffing park services and encouraging outdoor recreation and sustainable tourism jobs in regional Victoria.