Tuesday, 17 October 2023

Heyfield

Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (16:18): I rise to celebrate the resilience and ingenuity of Heyfield. Last week I visited the incident control centre and witnessed the teams at the ICC working to protect and support our communities of Loch Sport and Briagolong. I want to again acknowledge everyone on the ground and in the ICC. They have given so much in recent weeks through fires and floods. I also met with Julie at the Heyfield Community Resource Centre, where for over 16 years local families and businesses have saved money on water and energy through sustainability audits. Locals have joined solar bulk buys to generate their own electricity, save money and reduce emissions, and this has seen Heyfield have one of the highest solar installation rates per capita in Australia. Julie had the idea to first investigate a microgrid and is now progressing a neighbourhood battery.

Of course who did Julie say has always leapt to support the community over the years? Vince from Australian Sustainable Hardwoods. Every time I drop in to ASH, I leave more impressed. ASH’s people are its priority, and this is put in practice through the value they put on pay, conditions and safety. Local families with good jobs make for a strong community, and ASH donate directly into their community too. Their investment in technology and innovation have them at the forefront of advanced manufacturing, with incredible capability to provide for Australia’s timber needs. Never complacent, ASH are now looking further into building designs and want to supply Victoria’s Big Build. All this and more is why ASH have put on an extra 30 workers this year and have over 210 well-paid full-time workers supporting the local town and region. Well done, Heyfield.