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Peter Walsh MP:
Plantation Estate Decreasing Under Labor

No answer still for questions regarding decision to destroy Victoria’s sustainable timber industry.

By Portal Admin - 8th December 2019 - Back to News

Labor’s Agriculture Minister still can’t answer basic questions on the Andrews Government’s decision to destroy Victoria’s sustainable timber industry.

Three weeks after Daniel Andrews dropped the axe on thousands of Victorian timber jobs, today Jaclyn Symes still couldn’t say how many hectares of new plantations will be established.

The Minister also failed to explain why the plantation estate in Victoria has actually decreased by 13,000 hectares since Labor was elected in 2014.

Ms Symes claimed the shortfall would be fixed with the Government’s $110 million plantation timber package – but not a single additional hectare has been planted since this was announced in 2017.

The total plantation area in Victoria has decreased from 433,000 hectares in 2013-14 to 420,000 hectares in 2017-18 under the Andrews Labor Government.

Comment attributable to Shadow Minister for Agriculture Peter Walsh

Daniel Andrews’ native timber ban will destroy jobs and timber communities, but the Premier just doesn’t care.

Not a single hardwood plantation tree planted today will be available to industry by 2030.

It means demand for timber will be filled with overseas imports that don’t support local harvest and haulage jobs or meet the same world class environmental standards we have here in Victoria.

The Andrews Government is sacrificing country jobs in a desperate bid to secure inner-city greens votes.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: support@gippsland.com

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