THE Australian Forest Products Association yesterday welcomed Federal Labor’s commitment to deliver “a comprehensive strategic plan” for the forest sector should it be elected.
Referring to the Federal Government’s earlier $20m budget commitment towards a National Forest Industries Plan, AFPA chief executive Ross Hampton said it was “very pleasing” Federal Labor had also embraced the concept of a national plan.
However, he warned “to make an apples for apples comparison, forest industries need to see the detail of both plans well before the federal election”.
“We will also need to see, as a fundamental plank in both plans, the policy prescription which will grow the available resource and how domestic manufacturers will be supported,” Mr Anderson said.
Mr Hampton’s comments come after Labor’s agriculture spokesperson Joel Fitzgibbon pledged his party’s commitment while campaigning in the federal electorate of Braddon in Tasmania on Wednesday.
Labor held a forest industries round table in Tasmania, which included AFPA and member companies.
Mr Hampton said there had been no national policies to drive productive tree planting for a decade and therefore no new areas of plantations.
“Without trees, we cannot expect our domestic manufacturers to invest in the equipment needed to assure future regional job growth,” he said.
