G6 Open Letter - "Bridging the Gap"

Small sawmillers propose "bold plan" to save Victoria’s timber industry by making Victoria the ‘Plantation State’ of Australia by 2040.

From their media release:

“According to the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, we have approximately 27,000 ha of unproductive land which could be made available for timber plantations today,” a G6 spokesperson said.

“Just last year the government committed $110 million in funding for plantations in the Latrobe Valley. As yet nothing has eventuated. The Government needs to find suitable land for timber plantations and put seedlings in the ground.

The G6’s ‘Bridging the Gap’ Plan calls on the Andrews Government to immediately:

1. Invest in the modernisation of mills to enable the better use of available resources and minimise waste

2. Invest in State-owned plantations

3. Revegetate unproductive land in public and private hands

4. Legislate Timber Supply Agreements (TSAs) to ensure immediate and long-term investment, certainty and sustainability in the sector

5. Provide assistance packages for worker re-skilling and relocation

6. Provide exit packages for businesses handing back TSAs and contractors

7. Adopt Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards to improve the industry’s social license to operate, including putting a ban on the export of unprocessed saw-logs

8. Safeguard communities from bushfires by maintaining, not weakening, the capacity and capability of timber industry people, equipment and programs in high-risk areas

“The reality is that native timber supply is a diminishing resource. We have to start thinking about doing more with less.

“Small sawmills like those owned and operated by the ‘G6’ have an important role in providing jobs, supporting local communities and responsibly managing the future of our precious timber resources. That’s what the Plan is all about,” the spokesperson added.

Full media release here.

See also earlier reports (2012, 2013) from FWPA on "The case for renewed development of plantations"

See also RFPG's: