2016-05-25
Ms DUNN (Eastern Metropolitan) — My question is for the Minister for Agriculture. Is the minister aware that Ignite Energy, the advanced lignite development plant in Morwell, intends to use native forest wood as a fuel source in the development site as well as brown coal?
Ms PULFORD (Minister for Agriculture) — I thank Ms Dunn for her question. The project that she refers to is not one with which I am immediately familiar. I know that the Greens in their relentless pursuit of documents —
Mr Jennings — Insatiable.
Ms PULFORD — their insatiable, mad, crazy, dirty-deal pursuit of documents — have sought information from my colleague Minister D'Ambrosio on this matter. I note also some of the recent machinery of government changes. I undertake to seek that information from the relevant minister and to provide Ms Dunn with an answer.
Mrs Peulich — On a point of order, President, I believe that the minister has reflected on the chamber and a decision that was taken a little while ago, and I ask that she be asked to withdraw that reflection.
The PRESIDENT — Order! In regard to the point of order, I do not require the minister to withdraw her remarks, but I do suggest that they were extraordinarily provocative and did make it difficult for the Chair to maintain a level of decorum in the chamber, because clearly they invited significant rebuttal and interjection. Perhaps going forward the minister might contain some of her thinking in this respect, but I do not require a withdrawal of that statement.
Supplementary question
Ms DUNN (Eastern Metropolitan) — Will the minister rule out allowing Victoria's publicly owned forests to be turned into liquid fuel?
Ms PULFORD (Minister for Agriculture) — Again I point out to Ms Dunn that I am not the minister for energy. I am responsible for managing our timber resource. Ms Dunn does not like it, of course, as we all know. The management of our timber resource is something that the government takes incredibly seriously. We have in fact a task force working in the latter stages of its deliberations before making recommendations to government, and we look forward to that. It is very important to our government to ensure that our timber industry is on a sustainable footing, and in doing so our priorities are to protect the natural environment and to protect jobs in the industry.