2016-03-09
Ms DUNN: My question is to the Minister for Agriculture. Can the minister advise: of the 21 000 people that she says are employed in the timber industry, noting that the Greens dispute that figure in terms of being employed in the native forest industry, how many of those people are suitably qualified to conduct targeted pre-logging fauna surveys?
ANSWER
Ms PULFORD: I will take that question on notice. I am not familiar with the qualifications of each and every person working in the native timber industry in Victoria. I will ask them and get back to Ms Dunn.
Ms DUNN: I thank the minister for her follow-up on that. In terms of a supplementary, I am wondering: what is the minister’s view on what would comprise suitable qualifications to undertake those surveys?
Ms PULFORD: I think Ms Dunn is asking for an opinion here.
The PRESIDENT — Order! It was phrased in a such a way that I can understand why the minister would question that. But whilst it was phrased that way, I think Ms Dunn was actually seeking detail of the qualifications that might be expected, so I do not think that she was looking for an opinion; otherwise I would have intervened.
Ms PULFORD: I thank Ms Dunn for her interest in the qualifications of people employed in native timber harvesting. Again, I will take this question on notice. I have never been involved personally in the direct employment of somebody in this work, and so the nature of the qualifications that are expected of people working in this industry are not something that I am immediately familiar with.