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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 7 Hansard (18 October) . . Page.. 1769 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

I think we have to recognise that these regional forest agreements are going to form an important part of the national forest strategy in this country, and people are actively working down that path. It is also very clear that the aim of the Commonwealth is that by the year 2000 no woodchip exports will be permitted from native forests. I think welcoming that move is an important factor in this debate. Things are on the move. We have to recognise that the Commonwealth has allocated $53m over the following four years to conduct regional forest agreements. That is not peanuts and I think it shows that there is a commitment from the Commonwealth to deal with the protection of our forests.

A key part of the amendment that I have circulated relates to the third paragraph, which says:

We believe, however, that in the interest of Australian jobs growth our national goal should be that no unprocessed woodchip be exported.

You just cannot switch off the industry, because a whole range of people are employed. I do not know whether the Greens have thought about this very much in terms of the shock on the industry. I share with them concerns about the future of our forests, but I know that people are working to protect them. I also have a great deal of concern about jobs and the communities out there who depend on the forest industry, and have done for a long time. I am advised that nearly 85,000 people are employed in Australia's forest industries. There are 11,000 people in the forestry and logging industry and 73,500 people in the forest products industry.

The number of people employed in forestry is diminishing because of the use of heavy equipment and those sorts of things. Of course, the purchase of heavy equipment usually involves purchases from overseas and that has an effect on our balance of trade. It would be better if more people were employed in the industry. If we can get to a point where there is no woodchipping and we can process our timber products in Australia, we can improve our employment base instead of exporting our jobs. That is why that particular issue is mentioned. I am concerned about this business. There are 73,500 people employed in the forest products industry and I think we can build on that. I think that is recognised.

So far as the ACT Government is concerned, we live in something of an environmentalist's paradise in the ACT when it comes to the issue of woodchipping, plantation timber and those sorts of things. It is never a great issue for us here when we compare what goes on here with what goes on in the other States and all the politicking that surrounds it, but I think the ACT Government should continue to pursue the issue of the purchase of timber products against a background of a desire to ensure that they come from plantations. That will not always be possible in the current environment, but I am sure that as time passes we will be moving towards it. It would be nice if we could get an undertaking from the Minister about some sort of regular reporting process to let us know how the purchasing arrangements of the Government are going in this regard. He may have some information that he can contribute to the debate, but that, I think, would be an important signal to members of this Assembly that the Government is serious about going down this path.

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