Wednesday, 6 March 2024

Maryvale paper mill

Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (14:13): My question is to the Premier. In 2019 the former Premier said about Opal Australian Paper:

… these jobs are secure. Up to 1000 jobs at … Maryvale … up to 2050.

Two hundred jobs were lost in 2022 with the end of white paper manufacturing, and today a further 220 Opal workers are losing their jobs. Why has the Premier broken Labor’s promise to secure jobs at Opal’s Maryvale site?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:14): I thank the Leader of the National Party for his question. At the outset can I convey on behalf of I think all members of Parliament that our thoughts are with those workers today at Maryvale. For some time now, as the Leader of the National Party knows well, as do his colleagues who represent this really important region in our state, this is an organisation that has had some challenges in recent years – challenges with wood supply that go back to decisions made by previous ministers in a previous government around protections that were put in place for the greater glider. I am sure the Leader of the National Party has asked this question in a bipartisan way, in a genuine way that perhaps his colleagues are not allowing the question to be answered in. Our thoughts are with those workers, because this has been an incredibly challenging period for those workers.

In addition to the issues of wood supply that have come about as a result of the transition of the timber industry, the member referenced comments made in 2019. As the member knows well, since that period of time there have been the devastating bushfires of the 2019–20 summer that also substantially impacted on timber supply to the region and also the impact on the demand for white paper as a result of the COVID pandemic. The Leader of the National Party knows that this is something that industry itself has also identified.

What I will say to the workers in this region is that there is support provided for them through the well-established ForestWorks agency, who are there supporting workers through this difficult time. I would also point out to the Leader of the National Party that we have understood that this is a region, whether it is through the energy transition or through the timber industry transition, that we know we need to step in and provide support for, which is why we have been working hard with the local community to diversify the economy, to bring new businesses and industry into the region and to support the growth of jobs in the area. That is the commitment I give to the region: that we will continue to provide this support, acknowledging that today is a very difficult day for those workers.

Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (14:16): Opal has blamed rising energy costs and the end of white paper manufacturing for these further job losses. Will the Premier finally admit that Labor’s energy and forestry policies have failed the workers at Maryvale?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:17): I know that the Leader of the National Party also knows that with the energy transition there are significant opportunities, and a significant amount of work has gone on in supporting workers who have worked in those industries that have long been, I acknowledge, mainstays of the local community in the Latrobe Valley region but are going through a period of transition. That is why, whether it is the work that the energy minister and the skills minister have done in providing support to those workers –

Peter Walsh: On a point of order, Speaker, on the issue of relevance, I would ask you to bring the Premier back to answering the question as to why Labor has failed these workers with their policies on energy and timber supply.

The SPEAKER: The Premier was being relevant to the question that was asked.

Jacinta ALLAN: Alongside the direct support we have been providing to workers in both the timber and energy industries, I know the Leader of the National Party is aware of the Latrobe Valley Economic Facilitation Fund, which has already provided 930 new jobs in the area, supporting $87 million of private investment. This is just one example of the practical support we want to continue to provide to a community that I do acknowledge is going through a difficult transition, and our thoughts are with those workers.