Tucker says forestry jobs are at risk (28/2/24)

Independent Lyons MP John Tucker calls for Liberal and Labor to back local sawmillers. Video by Aaron Smith (28/2/24)

Transcript

00:00 I'm here today to talk about what's going on within the forestry industry, particularly

00:03 with the sawmillers, the hardwood sawmillers.

00:06 They're being forced into contract or tendering for contracts for the plantation timber that

00:12 was planted 25 years ago for all those sawmillers to support them going forward as they phase

00:17 out nutty forest logging.

00:20 Now what's occurred in Victoria with the billion dollar payout, if we put those, if

00:24 the TTT puts those contracts up for tender, those sawmillers who haven't got the financial

00:30 backing of a billion dollar payout are going to have to compete against our Victorian partner

00:34 comrades over the water.

00:36 Now that will mean, from my opinion, that that timber, all those 25 years of plantation

00:42 forest, will go across to Victoria and we will lose it and we will have our sawmillers

00:48 and our regional communities with their jobs and everything will be lost.

00:52 And that is a big issue for myself because I'm here to represent those rural and regional

00:55 areas and if they lose those sawmillers and they lose their jobs, that's finished, there's

01:00 no coming back.

01:01 And those logs will then be transported across to Victoria which will be a huge disadvantage.

01:06 Now with what the Premier has done and also with labour around the Hydro, with the Hydro

01:13 Ministerial Charter and changing that and saying that they are for Tasmanian jobs and

01:17 the Tasmanian people, that should apply to all GBEs in my opinion.

01:22 That is across STT, Tasports, the lot.

01:24 [End of Audio] Duration: 2 minutes and 40 seconds

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