Wednesday, 20 March 2019

 Ms SANDELL (Melbourne) (19:11): (393) My adjournment matter is for the Premier, given that it relates to an issue crossing both the environment and agriculture portfolios. On 31 August last year the Herald Sun reported an Andrews government plan to spend $500 million on a forest industry transition plan, including paying $340 million to Japanese-owned paper company Nippon Paper Industries. Since August last year, however, no further information about this plan has come to light; it seems to have disappeared. The action I seek is that the Premier write to me outlining what plans the government is considering regarding the transitioning out of native forest logging and whether this includes providing public funding to companies such as Nippon and what this money is to be used for.

For those who do not know, Nippon is a Japanese-owned paper company that runs a paper manufacturing facility at Maryvale in the Latrobe Valley. Nippon makes paper out of Victoria’s native forests. In fact 90 per cent of the trees logged in Victoria’s native forests get turned into paper by Nippon. Most Victorians may not realise this. Most Victorians may not realise that our precious forests, home to more than 70 endangered species and the source of our clean air and water, are getting made into cheap paper so a massive multinational company can profit.

This issue is also intimately linked to the waste and recycling crisis that we are facing in Victoria. Many Victorians may not realise that Nippon’s paper plant in Maryvale also makes recycled paper. In fact that is a very big part of what they do. But they do keep using our native forests as well, because the government is giving them our trees for virtually nothing. The government is giving Nippon these huge, old, important trees for less than what they can pay for wastepaper that could be recycled. It is a bit embarrassing. Surely our spectacular forests are worth more than this.

The government right now has an amazing opportunity to both get out of native forest logging and fix the recycling mess. It is a win-win. If the government is considering a $340 million payment to Nippon, I would like it to ensure that any money delivers a genuine end to native forest logging in Victoria. At the same time, why not use that money to further build Victoria’s capability to recycle paper and create new jobs?

I am worried that instead of using this amazing opportunity, this Labor government might go down the wrong path. I am aware that Nippon has just received Environment Protection Authority Victoria approval to build a waste-to-energy plant. I am deeply concerned about waste to energy. Burning rubbish is no solution to this crisis. It says that we have given up on recycling and it can lead to terrible health outcomes, but it could also prop up the logging industry, and that is not okay. I ask the government to, if it is providing any money to Nippon, guarantee this money will not be used to support the waste-to-energy project and will actually be used to get out of native forest logging.