Native forest logging
Ms SANDELL (Melbourne) (11:22): My question is to the Premier. Premier, as well as the terrible loss of life and property we saw in the recent bushfires, Australians have been shocked and saddened at the huge loss of wildlife and the forests that they call home. We have lost so much. Some species may have already become extinct; many have been pushed to the brink. Right now I am receiving daily emails and calls from people who are watching even more destruction occur as logging by our state-owned forestry company is still happening in native forests and threatened species habitat just north of Melbourne. Premier, given how much habitat and forest we have lost in these fires, isn’t it now time to immediately bring forward the transition out of native forest logging in Victoria?
Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (11:23): I thank the member for Melbourne for her question. I want to be as sensitive as I can in answering this question, because I know today some people in the forestry industry have learned that because of fire impact on timber that is in coupes that was part of the timber release plan they will be out of work. I want to be as sensitive as I can to them and their families. That is why, for instance, we do have lots of other alternative work in forest management that is quite important, perhaps more important than ever right now. There is salvage timber harvesting that is going on. I know there will be debates on whether there should be more of that, but I think the member for Narracan would acknowledge the fact that we have wasted no time around those salvage issues, because we think that is really important. It is something I think that we might be supported on more broadly than you might think.
On the issue of the impact of these fires on the native timber industry, and indeed the plantation timber industry, from my most recent briefing, I think something like 50 per cent of coupes that were part of the timber release plan have been burnt. The impact will be significant. It gives me no joy to make the point that we have said for a long time now that this industry was in a very fragile set of circumstances, a very fragile position, and a really big fire event would have a significant impact on the future of this industry. I expect that that is exactly what has happened now.
But I am not about the ideology of this. I want to be as outcome driven and evidence driven as we can be, and that means we have to make further assessments about the damage that has been done. I note there is one matter that is in the court and I will not be drawn on at that. But we are going to get the balance right here. We have made our policy announcements. Not everybody supports them. They were predicated on the fact that we could not simply be a victim of circumstance and bumble along thinking that everything was fine with this industry. We said there were many, many risks. One of them was fire; I think we been proven right in predicting that as a substantial risk.
I get no pleasure from that, and that is why I am trying to be as sensitive as possible because this very day people have been told they may well be out—in fact they are out of work. That is very difficult. We will support those families. We will support a transition in this industry and it will be on the time lines we have announced. I have no new time line to announce. But I am happy to concede the point that these fires will have had an impact on the supply of timber already designated for logging, and it may well have had, in fact almost certainly has had, an impact on timber that may have become available in future timber release plans under the transition that we had put forward. Unless and until we have a proper appraisal of exactly what the impact of these fires has been, I am not going to be making policy up as we go. We are going to work out exactly what the impact is, and if we do need to make a change, we will be completely transparent about it.
Ms SANDELL (Melbourne) (11:26): I thank the Premier for his answer. I understand that the government is in a difficult position, as is the industry, having negotiated and decided on a position on forests only to have it all go up in smoke in this event. Things have changed dramatically. Both areas designated for protection and areas designated for logging have burnt and over 100 species have lost more than half of their habitat, so people are rightly asking why the government would contribute to that by continuing to allow logging of remaining threatened species habitat. I was also told in a briefing by the department that it may actually be some time until we know the full impact of these fires on endangered species. Given this, and given the uncertainty, will the Victorian government immediately put in place a moratorium on native forest logging that is happening right now, at least until we know the full impact of these fires on habitat and on our endangered species?
Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (11:27): Again, with the greatest of respect to the member for Melbourne, I do not agree with her characterisation essentially that people in the timber industry are rushing out to cut trees down as fast as they possibly can, somehow seeking to have some advantage out of these fires. I do not accept that. I do not accept that at all. I think that many people in the timber industry are out there operating heavy machinery, putting themselves in harm’s way, clearing roads, cutting firebreaks, doing all sorts of important work—and I thank them on behalf of all Victorians for their work. There is no problem. It is not that people are opposed to them or their industry; it is simply that we are facing up to fact that there are massive challenges, and you can either be a victim of those circumstances by ignoring the challenges or you can make the tough call. It is a difficult call. But I would not want the member for Melbourne to think that the government is somehow seeking her sympathy. Yes, these are difficult issues but that is what government is about. The difficulty of the government in getting the balance right in forestry is nothing compared to the difficulty that some families in that industry will have to encounter, communities have had to encounter because of that transition and bushfire.