Tuesday, 3 February 2026

 Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (20:59): (2253) My adjournment is for the Minister for Agriculture in the other place. Recently the mill at Swifts Creek announced its closure, meaning loss of work for 15 locals. It is important that these workers are supported through this period and that is what ForestWorks will do. It is industry owned and not-for-profit, with people from the sector with experience that will support these workers, ensuring that they receive financial support and a path to employment, including training, but it is important that we have jobs that they can move into. Swifts Creek is a small town. It is somewhat geographically isolated. I have been up there over the last year with community groups and with town leaders and talked about how there has been a contraction of business. There have been investments by the government in school upgrades, in a new 33-place kinder, and upgrades to the rec reserve facilities, which I was fortunate to be able to open at the grand final last year. However, as I said, we have got to make sure that there are jobs for these people as they leave the mill. There are projects rolling out through the Forestry Transition Fund, and we know these will lead to new jobs and new businesses. The action I seek is for the minister to update the house on the timber transition initiatives in Swifts Creek.