Latest News and Campaign Updates

Adelaide homeowners 'will pay 30pc more' for forestry sell-off

From: The Advertiser by Rural Editor Nigel Austin March 31, 2011

NEW homes will cost up to 30 per cent more to build if South-East forests are sold overseas, the hardware industry warns.

They say the price rise will be passed on to homeowners as timber merchants are forced to import timber at  higher prices.

The Hardware Association of SA made the claim in Mount Gambier yesterday at the Australian Senate Inquiry into the sale of Timber Assets by the South Australian Government. Association chairman Rod Evins said if the Forestry SA timber was sold, local businesses would have to pay up to twice as much for timber from overseas.

Mr Evins, also chairman of the Banner Hardware Group, said he was concerned about the implications for South Australia because Forestry SA provided 75 per cent of the timber used in SA and 85 per cent of Banner's timber.

"We can't provide enough timber as it is, we have to import now," he said.

The planned sale was already having dire consequences on the South-East, with Banner's timber plant in the South-East recording a 60 per cent drop in sales in January.

Mount Gambier Mayor Steve Perryman, District Council of Grant Mayor Richard Sage and Wattle Range Council Mayor Peter Gandolfi said the sale put the jobs of 600 timber industry workers, 3000 contractors and many more at risk.

Housing Industry Associaton regional director Robert Harding said: "If we lose the local supply chain and we have to source the timber from overseas, then we are at risk on a whole range of things. The quality, the quantity that may be reduced; price will then become difficult to manage because it will depend very much on transport availability and transport costs and the strength of the Australian dollar, all of which we would not have control over," he said.

Committee member Senator Nick Xenophon said it was clear the SA Government had not thought the whole process through.

"The evidence is incredibly alarming, it's like a slow-motion train wreck," Mr Xenophon said.

"The idea is flawed, the process is a sham and the outcome would be a disaster."

Forest sale could cost SA up to $1bn

From: The Advertiser by Rural Editor Nigel Austin March 31, 2011

A BLACK hole of up to $1 billion may eventuate if SA pursues a fire sale of South-East forests.

Speaking at the Senate inquiry into the Sale of Timbers Assets by the SA Government, Senator Nick Xenophon said he was concerned a loss of up to $1 billion to SA could result from a quick fire sale of the forests.

Senator Xenophon said he feared the State Government would not get the right price for the forests because it didn't appear to be factoring in the value of increasing land values, water rights, carbon and the rising value of forests.

"They could be short-changing the state by hundreds of millions of dollars," Senator Xenophon said.

Forestry consultant Dr Jerry Leech said the forests were being used to support the state's AAA credit rating and he was concerned the sale would undermine the credit rating.

"I'd suggest the SA Government should suggest Super SA should invest in Forestry SA because it doesn't make any sense to sell it," he said.

"If you sell the forest it would be in the interests of the buyer to sell the water licence, log the trees and let the land revert to scrub."

Gunns Timber Products Green Triangle Business Group general manager David Ford said the problem was creating uncertainty which was affecting investment.

"If Gunns is unable to determine that the right environment exists in the Green Triangle, it will select a radiata pine region to support the investment of a modern high-technology sawmill," Mr Ford said.

"As a major employer and economic contributor to the Green Triangle region, it will have a devastating impact to local communities if Gunns exit the region."

Gunns employs 295 people in the Green Triangle and contributes $115 million annually to the local economy in terms of raw material purchases and operational costs.

"It has created an uncertain investment environment in the region that is already impacting the confidence of local communities, depressing housing prices and undermining investments by all businesses operating in the local community," Mr Ford said.

NF McDonnell and Sons owner Ian McDonnell said he bought 90 per cent of his timber from Forestry SA and he feared for the future of his business if it was sold to a foreign buyer.

Mt Gambier Chamber of Commerce executive officer Lynette Martin said businesses were apprehensive about the future because of the uncertainty caused by the proposed forest sale.

"Apprentices are being handed back to authorities, building workers are getting less work and there is a lot of concern," she said.

Inquiry hears forestry forward sale worries

ABC News By Tyson Shine

A Senate inquiry into a proposed forward sale of Forestry SA harvesting rights has been told there is already a shortfall of timber in the south-east of South Australia.

The SA Government could sell more than a century of south-east pine forest growth to private investors.

Forestry stakeholders say there is no guarantee the timber would be processed locally, meaning local jobs could be lost to overseas mills.

Ian McDonnell owns one of 21 mills in the region that process Forestry SA timber.

He says the mills are reliant on a steady supply, 90 per cent of it from Forestry SA.

The inquiry was told about $1 million per day was already spent on timber importation to Australia.

South-east mayors told the inquiry they lacked details about the harvesting rights plan.

Wattle Range mayor Peter Gandolfi said it was hard to plan for potential fall-out.

"We've got about 600 people that work in our local mills. Of course there's about another 3,000 people who are contracted to our mills and then we have the flow-on effect.

"What we could see [is] that if this forward selling of our forest was to proceed, we'd see great job losses across the board."

He said the timber industry was the region's largest employer.

Gandolfi, has told the inquiry the timber sector is the largest employer in the region.

"It makes up around 18 per cent of our entire economy. To put that in perspective, if Adelaide was to suffer the same percentage of job losses there'd be 80,000 people out of jobs," he said.

Logging trucks with banners opposing the forests plan drove around outside the venue of the Senate inquiry at Mount Gambier.

Government snubs forestry meeting

By Sarah Martin From: The Advertiser March 30, 2011

A PLAN to sell forestry rights will be scrutinised by a Federal Committee in Mt Gambier today.

But the State Government has declined an invitation to attend.

Independent Senator for South Australia Nick Xenophon has criticised the Government for not fronting the Senate Committee Inquiry, which will hear from regional mayors and industry groups.

Mr Xenophon said the South Australian Department of Treasury and the Department of Primary Industries and Resources had declined invitations to address the committee hearing.

But the Treasurer's office said it had made a written submission to the inquiry and the proposal was currently being assessed as part of a Regional Impact Statement.

It also insisted that the South Australian Parliament "is the appropriate forum for these matters to be debated."

Mr Xenophon said he was disappointed the Government as the key decision makers had chosen not to be a part of the hearing.

"What is the South Australian Government hiding if they are not prepared to front up to this inquiry?" he said.

"It shows incredible arrogance and secrecy - why won't they answer questions?"

Wattle Range Council Mayor Peter Gandolfi, who will address the committee, said it was an opportunity to highlight the region's concerns at a national level.

"I would have thought the State Government would want to state their case, " he said. In his submission to the inquiry, Treasurer Jack Snelling said the sale of forestry rights was being considered to reduce the state's net debt and to maintain the triple-A credit rating.

"(The) South Australian Government is the owner of F.S.A (Forestry SA) and needs to consider, in the context of a tight fiscal position, whether a forward sale of F.S.A. timber rotations will deliver better value to the State than . . . a business as usual basis."

Senator Xenophon said South East timber industry workers were concerned that the jobs of up to 5000 people were risked by the decision.

Witnesses will include mayors of Mt Gambier, Wattle Range and District Council of Grant, the Timber and Building Materials Association, the Master Builders Association and the Housing Industry Association.

Forest sale fears reach senators

The Border Watch March 24, 2011

The forestry union has made a lengthy submission to the Federal Government's Senate enquiry outlining issues that needed to be addressed if the State Government proceeded with the proposal to forward sell ForestrySA plantations. “If the government is committed to the sale, we want to ensure that we have cast iron guarantees that contracts for logs remain with local processors,” South East delegate Brad Coates said.

WHILE the South East awaits the State Government’s forestry sale Regional Impact Statement, submissions for the Federal Government’s own study have closed.

The senate inquiry was launched shortly after South Australian senator Nick Xenophon visited the region following Kimberly Clark Australia’s (KCA) redundancy announcement.

Lower South East councils have made individual submissions on the impact they fear the proposed sale could have.

Wattle Range Council’s submission focused on the revelation of job cut plans by KCA.

“With KCA’s Tantanoola mill up for sale, we want to be able to reassure potential buyers that the region’s primary source of softwood chips – ForestrySA plantations – are secure,” mayor Peter Gandolfi said.

“The rest of our submission was based on the findings of the community impact statement conducted by Dr Bob Smith, which was recently released.”

The forestry union also made a lengthy submission outlining issues that needed to be addressed if the State Government proceeded with the proposal.

“If the government is committed to the sale, we want to ensure that we have cast iron guarantees that contracts for logs remain with local processors,” South East delegate Brad Coates said.

“We also highlighted the need to expand the industry in the South East or later on down the track we will be stuffed anyway.”

Mr Coates said talks with treasurer Jack Snelling at the weekend’s Country Labor party conference provided hope that somebody in the State Government was finally listening.

“The treasurer showed a genuine willingness to consult and assured us that if the sale were to go ahead we would be part of the process in determining how,” he said.

A select group of those who made submissions will meet with the inquiry’s senate committee on March 30, between 10am and 3pm, at Mount Gambier’s Commodore on the Park at a public hearing.

“This inquiry will highlight the issue on a national level and therefore add pressure to the State Government,” Mr Gandolfi said.

However, in comments to The Border Watch, Mr Snelling reiterated that the findings from the regional impact statement commissioned by the State Government would largely determine the government’s decision.

“I’m expecting to see that report in the coming weeks and I’ll need to be satisfied from that report that the jobs and welfare of the families of the South East are secure before I agree to any proposal,” he said.

Forestry growth dries up

The Border Watch March 24, 2011.

THE South East’s new water allocation plan could do as much harm to the region’s forestry industry as the government’s proposal to forward sell state-owned forests, union delegates have claimed.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union's South East official Brad Coates has told The Border Watch that the uncertainty surrounding the water plan was already causing investment to be lost interstate.

“There is evidence that since this plan was mooted and its several years of delay have gone by that there has been a significant decrease in the amount of trees being planted,” he said.

The plan has been delayed for more than seven years, however it is understood the plan is now being discussed in parliament.
Mr Coates said the already ailing forestry industry could collapse if the plan was passed in its current form.

“For the industry to survive down here in the South East, expansion is needed — if the forward sale goes ahead and the water allocation plan is approved, there will not be any expansion,” he said.

Under the current reforms in the new water plan, plantation owners would be required to manage and account for water under the same conditions as irrigators under a volumetric system.

“Since the collapse of managed investment schemes, all investments in forestry are long-term — this plan will deter investment and future expansion and over time the industry will shrink,” Mr Coates said.

Treasurer denies Forestry SA break-up

From: The Advertiser By Bryan Littlely and Adam Hegarty March 04, 2011

THE State Government will retain ownership of Forestry SA even if a forward sale of forest rotations occurs, Treasurer Jack Snelling says.

Mr Snelling denied that he had revealed to South-East mayors the proposed sale of Forestry SA harvests would lead to the department's operations being outsourced.

"No decision has been made to sell forest rotations," Mr Snelling said. "I am not in a position to speculate about how a sale would proceed in advance of receiving the final report of the independent regional impact statement."

ForestrySA employs about 200 people and has an annual operational budget of about $60 million.

Wattle Range Council mayor Peter Gandolfi said he had met the Treasurer on Tuesday and had been told the Government was "looking at everything being outsourced".

Hopes high for timber sale rethink

ABC News Tuesday March 1, 2011.

The group met former treasurer Kevin Foley after the first of two protests on the steps of Parliament House but says it did not get the desired response from the meeting.

Wattle Range Mayor Peter Gandolfi is one of the three mayors spearheading the group Don't Privatise SA Forests.

He says there are high hopes that new blood in Treasury will help overturn the State Government's decision to potentially sell more than a century's growth of timber.

"There's a lot of questions we want to [ask] ... particularly in the model in which he wishes to sell the future rotations of forests in the south-east and hopefully he'll understand how the Government needs to keep our forests in public hands to secure our futures," he said.

Inquiry bid rejected

The Advertiser February 25, 2011 
 
AN inquiry into the forward-selling of Forestry SA's harvest rights has been rejected by the Government.
A motion proposed by Opposition treasury spokesman Iain Evans in the Economics and Finance Committee to examine the proposed sale was defeated by Government opposition.
Family First MLC Rob Brokenshire yesterday said he intended to move a new motion in the Legislative Council, to appoint a Select Committee to examine the sale. The motion is likely to be supported by the Opposition.

Mayor slams new leader’s inaction

The Border Watch February 18, 2011.

MAYOR Steve Perryman has hit out at South East-raised MLC Bernard Finnigan for failing to lobby the State Government against the proposed forward sale of the region’s forests.
In this week’s full council meeting, Mr Perryman showed councillors a public bulletin from Mr Finnigan, headlined “Standing up for the South East”.
“You’ll remember Bernard’s bulletin a few months ago — ‘Standing up for the South East’ — well we haven’t seen that so far,” Mr Perryman told members on Tuesday night.
“Bernard is the person who said he would stand up for the South East — if he’s going to talk the talk he needs to walk the walk,” he later told The Border Watch.
Mr Finnigan was recently promoted to Government Leader of the Legislative Council and was given three ministerial portfolios — Local Government Relations, Industrial Relations and Gambling.
His entry into the positions was coincidentally timed with the South East’s second anti-forward sale rally at parliament house, where My Perryman said 3000 people shouted form the steps of parliament, calling on Mr Finnigan with no response.
Mr Finnigan has defended the government’s actions surrounding the potential forward sale.
“He needs to do the right thing by the region he remembers so fondly,” Mr Perryman said.
Mr Perryman stood as a Liberal Party candidate at last year’s state election.

Council frustrated after protest ignored

The Border Watch February 18, 2011.
DISTRICT Council of Grant has expressed disappointment in Premier Mike Rann and the State Government for snubbing residents who recently rallied outside Parliament House against the proposed forward sale of forestry harvest rights.
About 3000 South East protestors were ignored when they chanted on the steps of Parliament House in Adelaide on February 8, demanding to speak to one of the cabinet ministers on the issue.
Lashing out against the government at a council meeting on Tuesday evening, council’s chief executive officer Russell Peate said residents would have respected the government if they came outside to address them.
“There would have been a fair amount of respect for the premier or a minister to come out and say ‘we recognise that you have made the sacrifice to come up, we hear what you are saying, we understand it and we are working through the process’,” Mr Peate said.
“But to not have anybody come out for 3000 people, at least to be polite, was very disappointing.”
Grant District Mayor Richard Sage echoed Mr Peate’s disappointment, adding that it was also disappointing Mr Rann ignored an open letter dated January 25 and signed by MPs Don Pegler and Mitch Williams, along with three mayors in the region.
The letter raised concerns over the lack of detail on the proposed forward selling and asked for clarification.
However, despite being ignored, Mr Sage vowed to continue the push as the “endeavour is still great”.
“We are pushing forward and hoping to get the resolutions that the community deserves,” he said.
“We are trying to get an audience with Jack Snelling (the new treasurer) and also with (legislative council leader) Bernard Finnigan, and we are also following up with the premier on the letter that he ignored.”

Pines sell-off inquiry launched

The Border Watch February 14, 2011.

A Senate  inquiry has been launched into the State Government’s proposal to forward-sell ForestrySA plantations after Independent Senator Nick Xenophon raised concerns at federal level yesterday.
The inquiry will be the third study looking at the impact the decision would have on the state and local economy, timber industry and jobs.
Mr Xenophon said he believed the decision needed to be “thoroughly reviewed”.
“It will have a significant impact on the South East,” he said.
When visiting the region late last month after Kimberly-Clark announced it would be cutting jobs, Mr Xenophon expressed concern that the forward sale decision may lead to even more “devastation” for the region, referring to it as “economic vandalism”.
“Hasn’t Premier Rann considered that there is a strong likelihood of regional job losses as a result of this decision,” he said.
Mr Xenophon echoed local fears that the sale would see log supplies diverted overseas, cutting supply to local timber manufacturing mills.
“What if the private buyer doesn’t have any regard for local jobs?” he said
“The opportunities for local value-adding will be reduced.”
Senator Xenophon recently met with local stakeholders involved in the campaign and timber mill operators to discuss the proposed sale.
The senate will call for submissions and hold a public hearing into the matter to report by April 15, 2011.

New leader of upper house backs forward sale process

The Border Watch February 11, 2011.

THOUSANDS of people who marched onto the steps of Adelaide Parliament House on Tuesday hoped a Mount Gambier man who was elevated to a key government position this week would take up their fight to stop the forward sale of ForestrySA plantations.
But in an exclusive interview with The Border Watch, new government leader in the upper house Bernard Finnigan distanced himself from the government proposal to sell 100 years of pine harvest rights.
Despite being receptive to questions on the issue, the Mount Gambier-born politician was quick to refer the matter on to the treasurer.
“It is a matter for the treasurer and the minister for forests, but particularly the treasurer to consider,” he said.
Tuesday’s protest featured chants of “Bring out Bernie”, calling for the son of a Mount Gambier dairy farmer to join them in protest.
Mr Finnigan extinguished rumours yesterday that he was among the crowd of South East protestors on the steps of parliament on Tuesday.
“I was actually getting sworn in, so I was flat out,” he said.
“There seemed to be some people talking about why I wasn’t there, but I don’t know I ever received a formal invitation.”
In the past, Mr Finnigan has been cited by Labor sources as one of the main drivers pushing the issue within the Labor caucus, however on Wednesday he refused to confirm such claims.
“I discuss all kinds of issues with my colleagues, but I do not propose to discuss the conversations I have with them on various policy areas, particularly in relation to the forward sale,” he said.
He went on to further defend and align himself with the government’s current position.
“What I have considered is what the government’s position is,” he said.
He claimed the government had been “upfront” with people regarding the decision.
“We have tried to be upfront with people that this was something that could happen,” he said.
“We have been very clear of the process we were going to go through.
“Until the regional impact is completed and it shows that it stacks up economically and that we can ensure a vibrant and viable industry for the future, then really no decision has been made.”
Although Treasurer Jack Snelling refused to guarantee in parliament question time that the sale would not proceed if the study proved it would have adverse effects, Mr Finnigan assured the party would not make any decision that would compromise the sustainability of the industry.
Mr Finnigan also faced a barrage of questions on the issue in his first question time from the opposition and Family First MLC Rob Brokenshire on Tuesday.
However, Mr Finnigan said the government had made no firm decision on the forward sale and voiced his support for the regional impact statement currently underway.
He indicated that if the sale process proved uneconomical, it would not go ahead.
Meanwhile, Mr Finnigan was candid when expressing his fond connection to the South East.
“I loved growing up in the South East — I bought a house when I was first elected to the Legislative Council and I have maintained it there since,” he said.
“It is a great part of the state.”
He said his passion lay with a determination to ensure future generations had the same opportunities that had led to his current position.
“My parents would have never dreamed of having the opportunities I have had to go to universities and be a minister of the Crown,” he said.
“That’s what I’m passionate about — making sure future generations have the same opportunities and chances.”
He also identified gambling on gaming machines, particularly in rural areas, as a topical issue he would bring to the Cabinet from his origins in the South East.
“As the minister for gambling, it will be an issue I will be taking to my colleagues on both a state and federal level where there has been a lot of discussion on the issue already,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister for Forests, Agriculture and Fisheries Michael O’Brien retained his position while also taking on the Energy portfolio.
Sources have told The Border Watch in recent times that Mr O’Brien has “misgivings” about the forward sale proposal, which has been reflected in his proposal to Cabinet to expand the state-owned forest estate.

South East forestry sale sent to Senate

Adelaide Now February 10, 2011

THE controversial sale of forestry assets in the state's South-East has been referred to a Senate inquiry.
rIndependent Senator Nick Xenophon successfully campaigned to refer the State Government's decision to sell harvesting rights in the region to the inquiry, which will look at the effect it may have on the state's economy, timber industry and jobs.
"There is a potential that the timber could be sent offshore for processing and the opportunities for local value-adding will be reduced," Mr Xenophon said.
"There is a strong likelihood of regional job losses as a result of this decision."
The development comes after Don't Privatise SA Forests campaigners from the South-East rallied at the steps of Parliament House yesterday in protest of the decision.
South-East timber mill operators and loggers said 5000 jobs in the state's timber industry have been put at risk.
The Senate Rural and Affairs References Committee will call for submissions and will hold public hearings into the matter. They will deliver their report by April.

New treasurer refuses to axe forest plan

The Border Watch February 10, 2011. 

As log truck horns sounded outside state parliament yesterday, newly installed treasurer Jack Snelling was inside, refusing to “guarantee” that if a regional impact statement found the forward sale of ForestrySA harvesting rights would bring adverse impacts to the region and the state, the proposal would not go ahead.
A similar promise was made by ousted Treasurer Kevin Foley during October last year, however when pushed by shadow treasurer Iain Evans, Mr Snelling refused to commit to a guarantee, side-stepping the question.
“I can not add anything other than that I will look at that when it comes to me,” Mr Snelling replied.
This saw the viewing gallery cleared as South East protestors stormed out in what they
said was “disgust”.
The treasurer also confirmed he had no intentions to disrupt the forward sale process currently underway when asked by opposition leader Isobel Redmond.
Mr Snelling showed no indication he would stray from the former treasurer’s stance.
“Well, didn’t see that coming,” the treasurer sarcastically remarked.
“The regional impact statement report is being prepared and will be sent back to government — the decision regarding the forests has not been signed off.”
However, Ms Redmond claimed the former employment minister had “applauded” the decision in the past when part of the old cabinet.
Mr Snelling also stated he was “committed” to meeting all the saving measures Mr Foley had outlined in the 2009/10 State Budget, which included the sale.
Member for Mount Gambier Don Pegler was notably silent during question time, however said he was disappointed by the “tameness” of the debate around the issue yesterday.
South East forestry union delegate Brad Coates said the result of parliament’s question time “street performance” was “no surprise”.
However, he said stakeholders would seek an increase in dialogue with the new treasurer.
“I hope the new faces in government do ignite an increase in consultation with stakeholders and the community,” he said.
“It is a good chance for them to turn themselves around and re-address not just this issue, but also those facing the wider manufacturing industry that supports rural communities.”

Thousands of protesters log their anger at Parliament House

The Advertiser by Bryan Littlely
February 09, 2011 

Protestors at Parliament House campaign against the government's plan to sell timber harvest rights. Picture: Dean Martin Source: The Advertiser 
 
THIS was not "rent-a-crowd". This was 3000 real people fighting for their future.
Thousands of protestors rallied on the steps of Parliament House yesterday calling on a "faceless" government to halt its plans to sell the life's blood of the South-East.
Among the placard-carriers was mother of two Tammie Boult, whose husband runs a logging team, father-in-law a log transport operation and who has other family members with shops and small businesses in Mt Gambier.
Retired couple Beth and Eric Watson forged a living in the forestry industry, with Mr Watson, 81, once a mechanic working on the trucks and heavy logging equipment.
Painter Greg Saunders believes he will be largely out of work as the community stops spending, should the State Government plan to sell up to 111 years of timber harvest rights go ahead.
But even the biggest rally of recent times at Parliament House could not draw any member of the new Ministry from within.
More than 60 logging trucks blaring horns along North Tce, with activists chanting, "We want Rann" and "Bring out Bernie" (Finnigan - the son of a Mt Gambier dairy farmer who yesterday was appointed to Cabinet) also failed to move Labor politicians from the chamber.
The Member for Mt Gambier, independent Don Pegler, was among the mix of politicians, businessmen, union representatives and industry workers to address the rally.
"When you put our backs against the wall, we will all come together against you," Mr Pegler said, sending the message that this protest was different to most. He said services in the South-East had been decimated by governments over the years.
"They have hit our health system, schools, industry . . . our fishing grounds. Now we're saying we've had enough," he said.
"We are coming together as one to tell this Government to give us back our forests and give us back our jobs."
Liberal Member for MacKillop and Deputy Opposition Leader Mitch Williams gave the protesters a guarantee that "a Liberal government would not sell or privatise one stick of forest in the South-East". "The first skirmish has been won - the architect of this dumb idea, Kevin Foley, is gone. But the battle is still ahead of us," he said.
The planned forward sale of ForestrySA's plantation pine harvests threatens 5000 timber industry jobs and would trigger the collapse of hundreds of businesses reliant on the industry, stakeholders say.
They fear logs from the state's 183,000 hectares of plantation forest will be sent offshore for processing, causing the shutdown of sawmills and supporting businesses.
Already, 10,000 tonnes of unprocessed logs each week are being exported from Portland to Korea, and log exports out of Port Adelaide have begun.
Unhappy that the politicians would not remove themselves from the opening day of Parliament, dozens of protesters passed through Parliament House security checks - piling placards in the lobby entrance - to view Question Time from the Lower House gallery.
Most sat quietly, letting their political partners on the floor fight the fight for the rally movement; but one protester clashed briefly with Parliament House security in the gallery.
In the Upper House, Bernard Finnigan was defending the Government's plan to sell forestry harvest rights after ignoring protesters' calls to make his first statement as a minister in front of them.
"We haven't sprung this on people, we are being upfront . . . and people will have the opportunity to have their say," he said.

Sale plan jeopardises carbon credit potential

The Border Watch February 9, 2011

Research by The Border Watch has revealed the State Government’s proposed sale of ForestrySA forests would not only hand over an annual multi-million dollar revenue to a private buyer, but possibly millions more in valuable carbon credits.
Government ownership of the forests means they control the carbon stored in the trees, providing entitlement to carbon offsets currently being bought and sold as a commodity on a world market, with a similar trading scheme most likely to be implemented in Australia within the next couple of years.
A conservative indicative value of over $6.5m of carbon credits will be transferred to private owners if the State Government sells its plantations.
This projection — taking into account the total tonnes of carbon attributed to the 183,000 hectare estate (drawn from ForestrySA’s 2009/10 annual report) and current world carbon prices — is set against a backdrop of a world in which the demand and price of carbon offsets is only expected to rise.
While pending the introduction of a national carbon policy, any benefits linked to carbon credits in Australia are speculative, an experienced scientist in the field, Australian Institute of Energy’s Bob Smith, confirmed there was no doubt the State Government had its hands on a “growing asset” in carbon that needed to seriously be considered before the sale proceeded.
“Only trees planted before 1990 can be counted for carbon credits and the majority of the ForestrySA estate will be available for carbon credits,” said the carbon expert.
“The carbon value in the estate could be very significant.”
Timber industry insiders claim the sale would also put at risk the State Government’s “green” sustainability and climate change agenda.
In 2008, Premier Mike Rann outlined a commitment by the government to becoming carbon neutral and develop a carbon offsets industry in the state to benefit from the opportunities that will flow from Australia’s rollout of an Emissions Trading Scheme.
However, this “commitment” is being questioned by some at a pivotal time as the Federal Government recently made a “strong” statement indicating Australia’s imminent evolution towards a carbon-trading scheme.
“The release of the carbon farming initiative draft indicates strongly where the government is heading — it is firmly in this government’s agenda,” professor Smith said.
“State governments need to start taking this into account.”
The legislation, if passed, will give farmers, forest growers and landholders’ access to domestic voluntary and international carbon markets currently crowded overseas by governments that have obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, energy intensive companies or companies chasing a “green” marketing image.
New South Wales already has a mandatory greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme established.
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy union representative Travis Lawson said it seemed “ludicrous” that the government was looking to sell state-owned carbon-filled forests while other countries were looking to retain their assets and buy more, especially as Australia’s carbon trading future materialises.
“It is simple — trees store carbon and if you sell the trees you sell the carbon that will become very valuable in Australia in the near future as it has overseas,” he said.
“The timber industry is already worried that some of the plantations will be bought and not even harvested because they will become worth more as carbon offsets for a private buyer.”
Mr Lawson said the “world-class” environmentally sustainable model that had prospered under the management of ForestrySA and could become an example in Australia’s forests industry would also be compromised.
“Look at it this way, compare the battle that has gone on in Tasmania regarding the native forests being logged to our plantation forests down here where we rather acquire land and fill it with trees to be logged rather than cutting down ancient forests,” he said.
“This has become a practicing model that Australia wants to base it’s timber industry on as trees are multiplying while the timber industry is sustainable — the forward sale wants to put an end to that and sell it off.”

Vibrant, profitable industry threatened

The Advertiser February 07, 2011 
 
THE Don't Privatise SA Forests action group is adamant any forward sale of harvest rights of pine forests may devastate the South-East economy.
A draft report on ForestrySA and its future, compiled by Primary Industries and Resources SA also warns the move could hit the industry. It describes forestry as vibrant and profitable, with an annual turnover of $112 million.
More than 5000 people are directly employed in the timber industry in SA and the action group fears the sale of harvest rights to a private buyer, potentially from overseas, will take timber offshore for processing.
The flow-on effects would be significant, business leaders have said. The reliance on the timber industry is reflected by the people at the rally - business owners, families, community groups and public servants.
The action group is concerned the sale of the harvest rights will be nothing more than short-term gain, some $500 million for at least 37 years of harvest rights, with no long-term gain.
Meanwhile governments must continue to cover ForestrySA's costs, of about $60 million a year, or risk the timber industry becoming run down.
Other concerns include a reduction in fire safety and prevention programs and the possibility Mt Lofty Ranges pine forests will be turned over to housing.

Loggers bring forestry protest to Adelaide

The Daily Telegraph by Tim Dornin 
February 09, 2011  

THE horns of about 60 logging trucks almost raised the roof on parliament house on Tuesday as timber workers descended on Adelaide to protest plans to sell off future forestry harvests.
Several hundred supporters also jammed the parliament house steps on the first day of sittings for the new year, calling on the government to scrap what they say is a threat to jobs and south-east communities.
The government is considering the plan to sell off future timber harvests from state-owned plantations to provide an immediate boost to the state budget.
The SA opposition and the Greens have both lashed the idea, with Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond describing it as short sighted.
"This fire sale will decimate the towns in the south-east of the state and have a flow-on negative impact on jobs and economic growth across SA," Ms Redmond said.
"The SA Liberals will continue to protest and support the communities of the south-east pushing for a reversal of the sale of the state's forests."
Greens MP Mark Parnell said selling off the family farm was the wrong way to manage the state's assets.
He said to make matters worse the government appeared to have negotiated a bad deal, seriously under-estimating the long-term financial benefit of the forestry assets.
But new Treasurer Jack Snelling told parliament no final decision had been taken to sell-off future harvests.
He said the government would have regard to a regional impact statement currently being prepared before any sign-off.
Forestry union national secretary Michael O'Connor said regional communities were not just protesting the forward selling proposal but also the issues of skills development, water allocations and investment.
"Our members and their families and communities want confidence restored in their industry," he said.
"Currently an industry that directly employs around 4000 people in the lower south-east of South Australia and provides about 30 per cent of the region's GDP hangs in the balance."
AAP

Protest to bring trade to a standstill

February 4 2011 The Border Watch

CLOSING down business and forgoing a whole day’s trade may seem crazy to normal, everyday entrepreneurs, however standing idle as the region’s underpinning industry is put at risk is considered even crazier for some South East traders.

The large trades supply store GT Industrial Sales is one of the many businesses in Mount Gambier that is making the rare step to cease entire operations on February 8 to ensure all staff can attend the second forestry rally in Adelaide.

According to Manager Alan Pasfield, their company possesses a vested interest in ensuring that the region’s forest industry remains secure.

“This company was first established in 1950 as it was built to service the industry– we have since diversified into other sectors, however timber still accounts for a 35 to 40pc chunk of our clients, including the engineering support services,” he said.

“About 11 of us will make the round trip to Adelaide — it is extremely important in relation to our business and many others I suspect.”

It is understood that around 12 businesses are planning to close on rally day, while many will scale back to “skeleton staff”.

Organisers of the rally said even a school had approached them to reserve a bus for a large contingent of students to attend, but later were forced to pull out due to legal reasons, however six bus loads of residents had been confirmed.

Meanwhile, the State Opposition has echoed a proposal by ForestrySA’s board, that is expected to be put before cabinet by Forests Minister Michael O’Brien, that calls for a 30pc expansion of the state-owned estate.

Liberal forests spokesperson Adrian Pederick has agreed with the proposal.

“Instead of liquidating our asset, the State Government should be investing in the industry’s future,” he said.

He referred to the forward sale plans as “short-sighted” and called for the government to accept the proposal.

“I call on the State Government to accept the wisdom of Forestry SA’s proposal and abandon the short-sighted forward sale plan that jeopardises an entire region and compromises the state’s future,” he said.

Rally ‘D-day’ looms

7 February 2011 The Border Watch

Leaders driving the region’s forestry campaign have declared tomorrow’s forestry rally “D-day” for the State Government to reverse its decision to forward sell ForestrySA pine planations
It is expected roughly 3000 protestors will march down the middle of Adelaide’s main street — King William Street — and converge on the steps of parliament house, with over 50 log trucks expected to once again hold up traffic on North Terrace.

Forestry union delegate Brad Coates has said considering recent developments, including the devastating downsizing of Kimberly Clark’s Millicent paper and pulp mill, the rally was now more important than ever for the industry and the community.

“This decision will collapse the industry as more jobs go and the community suffers as a result,” he said.

“It is time we start tipping the scales towards job gains in the region, rather than job losses.

“I understand that most people in the South East understand that — let’s make them understand that.”

Mr Coates said the campaign was no longer just about pressuring the government to reverse the decision to sell, but also convincing them to expand.

“We have to maintain the pressure so we can finally fix this anomaly we have had in the region of not being able to attract further investment in the area,” he said.

“If those up in Adelaide had any doubt in the need to reform and give direction to the industry that supports this community — that was silenced last week when KCA made their announcement.”

Mr Coates said it was now important that the community “acted on their words”.

“The only way we will reverse this decision is by a potent display of people power,” he said.

According to Mr Coates, if the government fails to publicly withdraw from the proposal, stakeholders will be forced to explore other strategies.

Pine forest sale puts SA in the fire danger zone

31 January 2011 The Advertiser By Bryan Littlely and Jordanna Schriever

PLANS to sell pine forest harvesting rights could strip the state of one of its best bushfire protections. South Australia would be left exposed to increased fire dangers if the State Government proceeded with plans to sell at least four decades of ForestrySA pine harvests to a private buyer, according to members of the timber industry. 
 
Leaders of the Don't Privatise SA Forests group, who will lead a rally to the steps of Parliament House next week, said firefighting resource cutbacks, the abolishment of volunteer clean-ups of community forests and a plan to convert Adelaide Hills forests to residential precincts would lead to dramatically increased bushfire risks.

CFMEU Forestry division assistant secretary Brad Coates said ForestrySA currently funded its own fire protection services, training and monitoring, which the group feared could be lost.

"If that disappears, through a lack of funding, the community will be put at risk," Mr Coates said. "If privatisation goes ahead and the revenue stream is lost, it means there will be less money to fund the service - causing it to be cut back."

ForestrySA has teams of trained firefighters manning a fleet of 12 of the state's most capable firefighting trucks - the rugged Firekings. On fire danger days, the trucks and crews are stationed in the field as a first-response strike force against the threat of bushfires.

Mount Gambier Mayor Steve Perryman said the community had concerns it would not be properly protected on catastrophic fire danger days.

"We don't want another Ash Wednesday," he said. "This region, in 1983, had a devastating loss of life and property. It's not a matter of if it will happen again, it's when."

A Government spokesman said community consultation and a regional impact study had started. "Issues such as fire protection will be considered in that process," they said. "It's likely conditions would be attached to any sale, if it goes ahead, that address such concerns."

CFS Deputy Chief Officer Andrew Lawson said the service understood the same level of protection would be provided.

"The CFS are working on the basis that there will be no change to the fire protection arrangements currently provided by ForestrySA."

Total fire bans have been issued for today across eight of the state's fire districts including the Flinders, Mid North, Mt Lofty Ranges and Kangaroo Island.

Businesses throw support behind rally

The Border Watch February 2, 2011.

For some it will feel like deja vu on February 8, with high profile South East business leaders throwing their support behind a campaign to block the forward sale of forests, with some even paying their employees to attend next week’s rally.

A convoy of approximately 50 log trucks is expected to stop traffic on the day, while organisers estimate around 3000 people will make the 1000km round trip to Adelaide Parliament House.

Meanwhile, in a show of community support, businesses ranging from real estate agents to veterinary clinics in Mount Gambier, Nangwarry, Tarpeena, Millicent, Port MacDonnell and Penola have displayed anti sell-off signs, banners and balloons in windows and shop floors.

Retailers and organisations such as Group Training Employment are also busy altering rosters in order to ensure that as many staff as possible can attend what has been dubbed as the South East’s “family trip to Adelaide”.

The role the rally will play is perceived by some employers as so important that they are paying their employees wages to head to the rally, like Group Training Employment manager Brenton Lewis.

“We will pay their wages as we see it as a very important day — if the decision gets through to sell the forests it will affect all of us,” he said.

Mount Gambier Mayor Steve Perryman said organisers also expected support on the day from the Adelaide community.

“In addition to illustrating the strength of unity within the South East community, we’ve also experienced a widespread level of support from the city,” he said.

“I think it is well understood now what devastating effects this could have on the region.”

When asked how the upcoming rally would compare to last year’s event, Mr Perryman claimed with recent developments and shifts in the political landscape it was now more important and possibly more broadly supported.

“With Kimberly-Clark’s announcement of job cuts and the messages we have been getting from Adelaide’s politicians, a sense that we are gaining momentum is evident,” he said.

“A big turn-out at the rally may just be what it takes to tip the government over the edge.”

Free buses which have been booked to ferry supporters to Adelaide from Mount Gambier, Penola and Millicent are
filling fast and registrations can be lodged at www.dontprivatisesaforests.com.au.

  

Protest brings trade to standstill

The Border Watch  February 4, 2011.
 
CLOSING down business and forgoing a whole day’s trade may seem crazy to normal, everyday entrepreneurs, however standing idle as the region’s underpinning industry is put at risk is considered even crazier for some South East traders.

The large trades supply store GT Industrial Sales is one of the many businesses in Mount Gambier that is making the rare step to cease entire operations on February 8 to ensure all staff can attend the second forestry rally in Adelaide.

According to Manager Alan Pasfield, their company possesses a vested interest in ensuring that the region’s forest industry remains secure.

“This company was first established in 1950 as it was built to service the industry– we have since diversified into other sectors, however timber still accounts for a 35 to 40pc chunk of our clients, including the engineering support services,” he said.

“About 11 of us will make the round trip to Adelaide — it is extremely important in relation to our business and many others I suspect.”

It is understood that around 12 businesses are planning to close on rally day, while many will scale back to “skeleton staff”.

Organisers of the rally said even a school had approached them to reserve a bus for a large contingent of students to attend, but later were forced to pull out due to legal reasons, however six bus loads of residents had been confirmed.

Meanwhile, the State Opposition has echoed a proposal by ForestrySA’s board, that is expected to be put before cabinet by Forests Minister Michael O’Brien, that calls for a 30pc expansion of the state-owned estate.

Liberal forests spokesperson Adrian Pederick has agreed with the proposal.

“Instead of liquidating our asset, the State Government should be investing in the industry’s future,” he said.

He referred to the forward sale plans as “short-sighted” and called for the government to accept the proposal.

“I call on the State Government to accept the wisdom of Forestry SA’s proposal and abandon the short-sighted forward sale plan that jeopardises an entire region and compromises the state’s future,” he said.

Timber protest aims for 3000

January 27, 2011 The Advertiser by Adam Hegarty

SOUTH-EAST residents will again rally at the steps of Parliament House on February 8.

They will be protesting against the sale of the region's timber-harvesting rights.

A convoy of buses and logging trucks carrying the campaigners will descend on Adelaide for the protest at 1.15pm.

Mt Gambier Mayor Steve Perryman said the group hoped to attract close to 3000 supporters to the rally.

``We're expecting more people than last time, with business owners giving staff time off,'' Mr Perryman said.

``There's still a strong sense of purpose in the community.''

The South-East community is concerned the sale will destroy the region's economy, claiming selling forestry assets will place thousands of jobs at risk.

In a letter to Premier Mike Rann, South-East mayors and MPs asked the Government to provide details of how the sale would improve the state's financial position.
Mr Perryman said there were still questions that needed to be answered.

``We want the Government to define exactly what it is they're selling,'' he said.

No decision on the sale is expected until a consultant completes a regional impact statement in March.

Forest report response mixed

January 27, 2011.The Border Watch

INTERPRETATIONS are mixed amongst forestry campaign leaders regarding reports that state forests minister Michael O’Brien will submit a proposal for cabinet discussions, which essentially opposes government intentions to sell off the ForestrySA plantations.
However, it is a shared perception that the revelations have only elevated the importance of February’s rally.
On Monday, an anonymous source from within the Labor Party told The Border Watch that Mr O’Brien had requested Cabinet discuss a proposal that would see ForestrySA buy more land to expand plantations, rather than sell them to a private buyer.
Sources also stated that many within the party held “misgivings” about the plan to sell the state-owned forests.
Independent member for Mount Gambier Don Pegler slammed the reports as mere “smoke and mirrors” and a attempt by the government to “take the sting out of the campaign.”
Mr Pegler discounted Minister O’Brien’s intentions to expand plantations to be unrelated to the government’s intentions to forward sell ForestrySA plantations.
“They are two entirely different issues,” he said.
“Last time O’Brien was here he was telling us to reinvent ourselves and accept the sale but now he has made an about face and is publicly opposing the sale – which one shall we believe?”
However, Mount Gambier mayor Steve Perryman has labelled Minister O’Brien an “ally” who has finally started listening.
“My understanding of O’Brien’s intentions will see an expansion of government ownership through an expansion of the state owned plantations,” he said.
“That ought to mean that this plan would exclude the forward sale process.
“It appears that he has been listening to not just the ForestrySA board but also to the advice from regional leaders and union representatives who have been pushing this case.”
Mr Perryman said the fact that the issue had become so contentious that it was capable of driving a wedge to divide government was positive news for the campaign.
“It is a positive sign that the pressure we have applied has resulted in it becoming one of the key issues causing disunity, and that it has brought to light opposition surrounding the issue within the party,” he said.
However, Mr Perryman said it was an opportunity for the South East community to take advantage of at the upcoming rally.
“I think what has happened is that through this campaign we have been educating those in government and the wider state about the value of this forestry industry and what it means to us – they are gradually catching on,” he said.
“The rally on February 8 will be the paramount opportunity to make sure the message is getting through and I urge people to vote with their feet and join us in Adelaide.”
Meanwhile, mayors from the lower South East council’s and the member for Mount Gambier and Mackillop have sent an open letter to Premier Mike Rann demanding more specific details regarding the sale.
“We are extremely concerned that there has not been more details given on this decision which could jeopardise the heart and soul of the community down here in the South East,” he said.
“There are too many unanswered questions.”
Amongst the details requested are an “exact” description of the asset up for sale, the precise terms of the sale, the timing of the sale process, a figure on the expected return from the sale, and how many years of rotations are being considered.

Forestry sale plan facing the axe

January 26, 2011. The Border Watch

STARK signs are emerging that the State Government will back down on its controversial proposal to forward sell ForestrySA harvesting rights.

Labor sources have told The Border Watch that Forests Minister Michael O’Brien has requested Cabinet discuss the issue as part of a broader vision to expand the forestry estate.

Cabinet has not considered the proposed sale since it appeared as part of the mid-year budget review in December 2008.

It is understood Mr O’Brien, along with several other ministers and much of caucus, have “misgivings” about the plan, while Kevin Foley’s pending departure as treasurer has opened the door for a policy shift.

A party rift on the issue first appeared in Parliament on the day of the first forestry rally when Mr Foley sharply criticised Mr O’Brien’s candid disclosure to stakeholders of details surrounding the sale in a meeting held prior in Mount Gambier.

As a result, Mr O’Brien bit back stating the Treasurer’s comments directing the blame for the “angst caused” on him were “bloody nonsense”.

He also hinted towards his opposing stance to the decision by claiming he had done the “right thing” by the people of the South East in his frankness.

Sources confirmed that Country Labor president Mark Braes and Mount Gambier-based MLC Bernard Finnigan have been influential in shaping opinion within the government.

While Premier Mike Rann is also keen to maintain the “goodwill” of Independent MP Don Pegler as the government is just two by-election losses away from a hung Parliament.

Mr O’Brien declined to comment, however The Border Watch obtained a letter he sent to the Limestone Coast Regional Development Australia board ahead of a meeting next week to discuss the region’s infrastructure priorities.

In the letter, Mr O’Brien acknowledges an expanded plantation estate “would be the catalyst for increased investment in processing and new value adding”.

“I’ve been advised by the board of ForestrySA that a 30pc increase in the size of the ForestrySA estate would provide the basis for two world-class sawmills plus smaller sawmills in the Green Triangle,” the minister says.

“I would like to hear the (RDA) board’s view on what infrastructure developments or improvements are required to service this potential expansion of the forestry industry, especially in terms of enhanced milling capacity.”

This view correlates to the calls from union officials for the government to expand plantations to revive the state’s forestry industry, as opposed to selling it off.

Recent advertisements by ForestrySA seeking new harvest and transport tenders into 2012 also indicate the company is continuing operations as normal, further adding substance to claims the sale may not go ahead.

However, ForestrySA’s chief executive Islay Robertson said the advertisements represented the company was merely following government instructions – to continue “business as usual.”

Cabinet tipped to debate ForestrySA expansion

The Border Watch January 25, 2011.

The South Australian Cabinet is expected to discuss a call from ForestrySA to expand its business.
The discussion could affect the State Government's controversial plans to sell the company's harvesting rights.
A spokesman for Forestry Minister Michael O'Brien says the Minister plans to act on a submission by the ForestrySA board, calling to increase plantation areas by up to 30 per cent.
If the board's proposal to grow the business passes Cabinet, it could see a turnaround of the Government's plans to sell more than a century's worth of timber growth to private investors.
The chairman of Regional Development Australia Limestone Coast, Mark Braes, says it is positive news for the 5,000 people in the south-east who rely on the industry for employment.
"To sustain the industry and grow it, we need a greater critical mass of forestry," he said.
There are fears of mass job losses if timber is sold to private investors.

Forward sale threatens to deliver final blow to timber town

January 24, 2011. The Border Watch 

WHEN passing through Tarpeena, for sale signs out the front of homes and abandoned shop fronts are immediately noticeable, while the less visible sufferings of the town like the loss of its football team, a school on the brink of closure and an ageing population, are less obvious.
Now a “air of negativity” permeates amongst the residents of the once thriving timber town – built around the Gunns sawmill – amid fears the forward sale of plantations will deliver the its “final blow”.
Forestry union officials predict one third of the town’s sawmill workforce would lose their jobs if the forests are sold to a private enterprise, taking into account that the “likely scenario” plays out where the once guaranteed log supplies for local manufacturers head overseas.
Grant District Councillor Shirley Little has grown up in Tarpeena and was saddened last week when a young couple moved away in a strategic move to avoid what many perceive as the imminent devaluation in house prices if the sale proceeds.
“They felt like they needed to move away just in case and to beat the rush – this decision will involve a high percentage of those who live in the town if not directly than indirectly,” she said.
“Our major concern is that our population is ageing and with the current grim look for the town young people are either moving away or are not seeing it as an attractive place to settle down.”
Owner of the sole pub in town – The Pines Hotel – Lynton Cram said even the possibility that the sale may go ahead had already planted a widespread sense of “negativity in the air” amongst the towns residents.
“What I am finding now is that business is very patchy – before you would have the pub full on a Friday night without fail but now it is very hit and miss,” he said.
“With the forward sale on the table people are worried they will lose their jobs – the town has suffered a lot but is very resilient. However the feeling around town has never been worse.”
The blue-collar town with traditionally loyal Labor party leanings now harbours a deep resentment for the government, according to Mr Cram.
“I am a Labor man and the town is typically Labor,  but that has changed with this decision – there is a deep resentment there now,” he said.
Mr Cram said the downsizing of the Nangwarry mill had already driven one “nail in the coffin” for his business and seen many in the town lose their jobs.
“This coupled with the current feeling will mean young people will continue to not buy a house in Tarpeena and we need young ones to spruce up the place,” he said.
“It will definitely be another nail in the coffin if they sell the forests – the town will always be there but it won’t be the same.”
Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union South East representative Travis Lawson said the Tarpeena mill sourced about 50,000 cubic metres of log from ForestrySA each year.
While he said the amount was not “significant” the extra wood – on top of logs sourced from their own forests – enabled the mill to work around the clock, every day of the year.
“If that supply is lost or becomes more expensive then jobs will be lost,” he said.
“History shows the growth and development of Tarpeena is inexplicably linked to the timber milling operations of the town – its demise will equally be so.”
Australian Bureau of statistics state that Tarpeena has the highest concentration of a population working in the manufacturing industry in the state, with 57pc employed in timber mills or affiliate industries.
This is why Cr Little “cannot bear the thought” that the place where she grew up will fall victim to a decision “purely for city needs” and not be there for her great granddaughter.
“We have always had a connection with the timber industry – my father felled the pines when they used to do it the hard way and now my daughter works in the mill,” she said.
“Now with the school on the brink and sports clubs losing numbers, we are losing the nucleus of the next generation of Tarpeena – this forestry sale might just deliver the final blow.”

Traders count cost of forestry sale fear

January 24, 2011. The Border Watch

THE future of one of Mount Gambier’s largest employers could be at risk of closure if the ForestrySA forward sale proceeds, recent information from union offcials reveal.
While such realisations are sending the city into a slump, with a lack of confidence now hurting businesses.
With a tightlipped media policy, timber manufacturing giant Carter Holt Harvey has remained silent regarding the issue of the forward sale, however according to Forestry Union officials, the company’s mills based in Mount Gambier could face significant downsizing, if the sale of harvesting rights to ForestrySA drys up log supply for local mills.
“Carter Holt source all of their logs — about1.2 million cubic meters a year — from ForestrySA plantations — they do have contracts with ForestrySA which will protect them for a certain amount of time but after that there is no security for a renewal of the contracts once a private buyer takes over the forests,” union representative Travis Lawson said.
“They are safe for the short term but what about after that — this is a company that directly employs roughly 800 people.”
Carter Holt Harvey shut down a mill in Dartmoor shortly after acquiring it from Weyerheuser Australia, which saw the retrenchment of 130 workers in 2008.
CFMEU assistant secretary Brad Coates believes Victoria’s privatisation of state-owned forests was partly to blame for the mill’s closure, which he fears will be repeated in Mount Gambier.
“The effects will not be immediate but what happened over there was once the forests were privatised the quality of logs deteriorated over time and the mill was only able to source smaller logs of lesser quality but at a higher price,” he said.
“This is what we predict will happen on this side of the border but with much greater consequences attached.”
Millicent’s largest employer the Kimberly-Clark factory Australia — which employs many residents from Mount Gambier — and the hundreds of staff they keep in work is also facing an unstable future if the state owned forests are sold off, Mr Lawson said.
And according to community leaders and business owners, a lack of confidence induced by the uncertainty surrounding the sale has besieged the town and sent it into one of its worst slumps.
“Increasing uncertainty within the community caused by the proposed forward sale of the ForestrySA logs is having a negative impact on our business community particularly in the retail and real estate sector,” Mount Gambier mayor Steve Perryman said.
“Given the current financial climate this uncertainty could very easily become a reality.”
Darryl Argent, local construction company owner, said the cut in confidence beset by the prospect of the expected consequences to result from the forward sale, was one of the factors stifling business for many builders and tradesmen.
“There are quite a few builders who are quiet at the moment and many suppliers are saying the same thing,” he said.
“It isn’t a coincidence that this slump comes at a time when everybody is nervous about the conclusion of this significant decision by the government that will affect so many.
“If it goes ahead Mount Gambier will become a retirement village and I think that is sinking in for many people who are even outside the timber industry.”
Chamber of Commerce president Lynette Martin said the widespread uncertainty was also being caused by a variety of other factors for the retail industry.
“We cannot attribute it entirely to the forward sale as I believe we are still experiencing the effects of the global financial crisis — 2010 in general was a very flat year for retailers,” she said.
“Fear of interest rate rises is also adding to low confidence in consumers.”
Meanwhile, Mr Perryman said State Treasurer Kevin Foley’s departure from politics gave the community campaign a good chance at February’s rally to put the issue to his replacement.
“We need to ensure that the replacement Treasurer is able to apply common sense to a ridiculous decision,” he said.
Registrations for the rally on February 8 can be lodged at www.dontprivatisesaforests.com.au.

Forestry uncertainty 'stalling future investment'

January 21, 2011. ABC News

A key forestry group says investment in south-east South Australia is stalling due to uncertainty over State Government plans.
South Australia's Forest Industry Development Board met in Mount Gambier yesterday.
Its acting chairman, John Fargher, says a feature of the meeting has been a commitment to expand south-east plantations.
However, he says the forward sale of ForestrySA pine plantations is a big stumbling block, with confusion across the board.
"People in the community, workers and so on are just frightened for their jobs - they don't understand what's going on," he said.
"Industry, both processors and forest growers, are concerned about the operating environment for the future and it's causing concern and stalling future investment decisions and local government is obviously concerned because their ratepayers are nervous and that's slowing down other sorts of investments."
Yesterday's meeting was part of the development of a draft forest industry strategy which it is hoped will be finalised in March.
Comments for the strategy close on February 14.

Forestry industry continues the fight

January 20, 2011. The Border Watch

STATE Treasurer Kevin Foley has left the building, but his proposal to sell state forests, which played a significant role in his political demise, appears set to proceed, stakeholders claim.
With the first sign of consultation for the government’s regional impact statement (RIS) emerging this week in a meeting between government hired consultants and stakeholders, there are concerns that consultants have been confined to a narrow briefing regarding details of the sale.
It is feared that this may compromise the accuracy of the RIS findings, according to CFMEU assistant state secretary and campaign driver Brad Coates.
“Instead of them asking us a range of questions, it was us asking them a heap which they could not answer,” Mr Coates said.
“We are concerned that the consultants had only been given a very narrow briefing and were not aware of details of the sale – for example how many years of rotations are being considered or the price range, which is a significant factor on what effect it will have on the state.
“How can you conduct a regional impact statement when you have been briefed so narrowly?”
Mr Coates believed that Treasurer Foley’s announcement this week that he would exit politics was significant in its relation to the forestry sale.
“It was one of the issues that played a major part in the events leading to his decision to leave politics – we already saw the cracks of division in parliament on the day of the rally when Minister O’Brien challenged him,” he said.
However, Mr Coates believes their meeting with consultants from the firm hired by the government Acil Tasman  Consultancy – an international consulting company – only confirmed the government was persisting with the plan.
“The fact that the RIS is still being conducted demonstrates the government’s stance remains firm, so in the end Foley stepping down has no significance,” he said.
“The February rally is a prime opportunity however to send a clear message to whoever takes his place.”
Mr Coates said the consultants indicated that Victoria would not be included in their assessment on what effect the sale will have on both jobs in the industry and the wider community.
“This is worrying when you consider that ForestrySA’s operations do spill over the border significantly and have many buyers in the Victorian side of the Green Triangle,” he said.
Stakeholders have said the second protest to be held in Adelaide on February 8 has received considerable commitment, not just from Mount Gambier residents, but also from towns across the wider South East as far reaching as Keith.
Over 3000 protestors are expected to claim the steps of Parliament House on the day and will once again be accompanied by a convoy of approximately 100 log trucks.

Foley's departure won't stop forestry privatisation opposition

January 18, 2011. ABC News

The mayor of the Grant District Council says he will continue to oppose the forward sale of Forestry SA pine plantations, despite news Kevin Foley will step down as Treasurer.
The Treasurer has refused to back down on plans to sell up to 105 year's worth of state-owned timber to private investors, which stakeholders believe will force jobs offshore.
Mayor Richard Sage says the South East lobbyist group opposing the sale will not rest until plans to sell are overturned.
"Whether it's Kevin Foley or somebody else in the position, the bureaucrats and the bean counters in treasury, they're still there," he said.
"The emphasis on keeping their triple-A rating is still at their forefront, so I wouldn't take any heart in the Treasurer moving on at all."

Timber cuts will have domino effect

January 15, 2011 The Advertiser by Bryan Littlely, Investigations editor 
 
CUTS will be felt far from the Green Triangle forests should a plan to sell harvest rights go ahead.
The South Australian timber industry supports 5000 workers directly and the loss of jobs caused by the export of unprocessed logs would have significant flow-on effects for the state's businesses.
Everything from the corner store to car dealerships would be faced with economic downturn should timber industry jobs be cut, the Don't Privatise SA Forests group warned, while the Housing Industry Association said the move would push up building prices .
Housing Industry Association regional director Robert Harding has written to Treasurer Kevin Foley voicing his concerns.
"While we understand there are limited sources of revenue for the state government, we would be concerned about the sale of this asset unless there were quite rigorous covenants in the sale document to protect the local industry and the supply chain to the building industry," Mr Harding said.
"If these covenants were not put in place or rigorous enough, there's the potential we will lose the adequate and affordable supply for our building industry."
"We only need to look back to the late '90s when there was a building boom in Queensland and there was a draw off of our building supplies."
South Australian Hardware Association president Rod Evins said the industry was concerned it would be robbed of building timbers should the plan to sell harvest rights proceed.
"If this resource was lost for whatever reason, we could lose up to 20 per cent of the timber for South Australia," Mr Evins said.
"That would create shortages both here and further afield in Australia, and push up prices."
The South-East town of Millicent, supported by the 900 employee-strong Kimberly Clarke paper mill, already can see uncertainty in the industry creeping in because of the proposal.
Wattle Range Council mayor Peter Gandolfi said his council region was home to the majority of the state's plantations and that the proposal had undermined confidence in the community.
"It would spell the end of Kimberly Clarke if it can't obtain its resource, the woodchip to make paper," Mr Gandolfi said.
"This issue is broad reaching and all communities in this region are aware of the impact it would have on them and the state."
The forests of the Green Triangle have produced much more than top-grade timber for building and chips to pulp, with businesses emerging to take advantage of what was once considered waste.
Stephen Van Schaik, managing director of Bio Gro in Mt Gambier, produces potting mixes, sawdust products and pine bark chips from what used to be burnt as waste product from the felled forests.
Bio Gro's Mt Gambier operation employs 80 people and Bio Gro processes 120,000 tonnes of waste product each year. Mr Van Schaik said any logs exported would deny his operation its full potential to value-add to the industry.
"What we use is considered waste and we provide a revenue stream for the timber mills."
"The products we make have benefits for the horticultural, viticulture and agricultural industries also, so any cutbacks to our production will have an impact on those industries also," he said.
Mt Gambier accountant and community leaderJoe D'Agostino said everyone was worried.
"What is a real worry is the future and sustaining the population of the South-East, should the plan proceed," he said.
"Whenever you talk to people here . . . they are fearful. They don't know what they can do about it."
Forestry Minister Michael O'Brien said the region would need to diversify should the sale of harvests go ahead.
"That's easy to say but it's not as easy to do," Mr D'Agostino said.
"How do you diversify when that timber is our main resource?
"We're calling for some consultation and some proper analysis."
A spokesman for Treasurer Kevin Foley this week said the government had commissioned a Regional Impact Statement on the plan, which was first raised in 2008.

SA Government's green credentials at risk with forest sale, timber industry heads say

January 12, 2011. The Advertiser by Bryan Littley
 
THE State Government may jeopardise its green credentials with the sale of ForestrySA to a private buyer.
The State Government would not comment yesterday about the potential for valuable carbon credits attributed to the 183,000ha of state-owned forests to be transferred to a private buyer should pine harvests for 37 years be sold.
"The South Australian Government has commissioned a Regional Impact Statement (RIS) on plans to forward sell one or more rotations of plantation forests in the South-East," a spokesman for Treasurer Kevin Foley said.
"No decisions on the number of rotations that might be sold and what conditions might be attached to a sale have been made." The timber industry feared any privatisation and sale of harvest rights from ForestrySA plantations would collapse the industry, which supports 5000 direct jobs and is the main economic driver in the South East.
Industry stakeholders also say the sell-off of the state's valuable carbon sink resource, which can be used to counter carbon emissions from other industries, goes against the Government's Sustainability and Climate Change agenda.
CFMEU Forestry division assistant secretary Brad Coates said the State Government should be maintaining present practices and purchasing more land to increase its forests.
"The timber industry has concerns already that some of those plantations may not even be harvested because they will become worth more as carbon offsets," Mr Coates said.
"What the Government should be doing is looking at ways to expand the plantations to sure-up that biodiversity bank."
Adelaide University environmental chemistry professor Stephen Lincoln said that ForestrySA forests were "very valuable as a carbon sink".
"The forests would take hundreds and hundreds of tonnes of carbon out of the atmosphere every year," he said.
Julie Michelmore, who lives on the border of Kuitpo Forest at Prospect Hill, said the proposal to sell off harvesting rights to the state's forests was a bad decision.
"They are a valuable asset for the state - good for our green image and they support a lot of jobs," she said.

Timber industry stumps up for a fight

January 10, 2011 The Advertiser by Bryan Littlely and Sarah Martin 
 
SOUTH-EAST loggers have already stood in front of log trucks to turn them away from the wharfs to stop South Australia's timber heading offshore.
Now, the hard men of the timber industry, businesses and the community leaders from the Green Triangle have joined forces to fight their biggest battle,  to stop the State Government from selling out the region's lifeblood.
They say they are fighting to save 5000 jobs, to prevent the collapse of an economic powerhouse region for South Australia and to protect a state revenue stream of at least $43 million a year.
Plans by the State Government to forward sell at least one rotation of ForestrySA pine harvest will put hundreds of thousands of tonnes of timber each year into the hands of a private buyer - most likely from resource-starved China, India or Korea - for 37 years.
Representatives from the Don't Privatise SA Forests group say the sale is nothing more than a ill-considered knee-jerk reaction by Treasurer Kevin Foley in a bid to protect the state's AAA credit rating and pay for election promises of infrastructure projects in Adelaide.
A new government report also says the proposed forward sale of ForestrySA's plantations could destabilise the timber industry.
The Primary Industries and Resources-compiled SA Forest Industry Strategy lists the proposal as a "threat".
Despite Agricultural Minister Michael O'Brien suggesting to stakeholders in Mt Gambier the sale was virtually a done deal, he now says no firm decision on the sale of forestry assets would be made until the consultation process and Regional Impact Statement was completed.
"The government will shortly engage an external consultant to undertake a comprehensive consultation process which will in turn be used by them to help inform their development of a Regional Impact Statement," he said.
"The consultation process will include discussions with key stakeholders, including local members of parliament, local councils, timber industry representatives, key unions, chambers of commerce . . ."
The South Australian Forest Industry Strategy report is little more than a glossy sales brochure, members of the Don't Privatise SA Forests group say and is aimed at attracting a buyer.
Mt Gambier sawmill owner Ian McDonnell said the plan is not only selling out the South-East, but also the state. "This government has no interest in rural South Australia at all," he said.
"This is generally a very conservative community and I've never seen so many people rally to a cause like they are now. It shows the depth of concern about this plan to sell our forests is at every level of the community."
The stakeholders group accused Premier Mike Rann and Mr Foley of treating the South-East - one of the state's strongest economic regions -with contempt. Mr Rann declined the chance to meet them while in Penola for celebrations for the canonisation of Saint Mary MacKillop and Mr Foley also would not go to Mt Gambier to answer questions.
Mr O'Brien was forced to address a meeting in October and was later criticised for belittling the region and the state for saying we are poorer and less well-educated than people in other states.
Mr McDonnell's father, Les, 82 and one of four generations of his family involved in the industry, labelled the plan a "stupid risk" which could collapse the timber industry and the region.
"The South East is built on the timber industry," he said. "If this plan goes ahead and anything turns foul, the whole of the South-East would be worth nothing."
The McDonnell's timber mill processes 6000 pine logs each day, and is only a "small player" in the region which supplies 16 per cent of Australia's softwood timber, harvesting 2.4 million cubic metres.
Already 10,000 tonnes of unprocessed pine logs a week are being exported from Portland to Korea.
Last year, Ian McDonnell and other mill operators were forced to blockade log trucks on their way to the wharf and turn them back to local mills where workers waited for logs to process.
CFMEU Forestry Division assistant secretary Brad Coates said the sale - which could be for three harvest rotations spanning more than 110 years - makes no sense and puts 5000 direct timber industry jobs at risk and would have widespread flow-on effects across SA.
"Whoever buys it, they are going to get it cheap because the environment for buying trees globally is not good," he said. "For every log that is exported overseas without being processed here, that costs jobs and tax revenue is lost for the state, money isn't spent in the community . . . there will be a dramatic, damaging snowball effect."
The suggested price for the forward sale of the pine harvests over 37 years is $1 billion - only a quarter of its current value. Forestry SA has an annual turnover of $112 million and $43 million profit went into state revenue last year.
"It is still going to cost the government to maintain the forests and develop them . . . which is more than $60 million a year currently," Mr McDonnell said.
"Money is still going to be going out and no more will be coming in. It will be a cost centre of the government and when times get tough, the razor gang will take to it and Forestry SA and all the good it does will be further depleted."
The stakeholder group warned the move has the potential to not only cost jobs, but also to push up building timber prices and reduce the fire preparedness of the state by scaling back Forestry SA firefighting operations.
.........................................................................................
SHANE McKay is ready to fight alongside the greater Green Triangle community to save his job - and his son Orion's future - in the face of State Government plans to sell the lifeblood of the South-East.
The Nangwarry timber worker knew little about the proposal to sell off the state-owned pine plantations but feared it would cost him his job if it went ahead.
"No one has said much about what it is all about, but we know it will affect about 6000 people here," Mr McKay, 34, said.
"I don't know what I'd do if the mill shut down."
He lives in the shadows of the pine forest and has worked in the Nangwarry mill for 16 years.
His grandfather used to cut timber by hand in the region.
Timber industry representatives, businessmen and local government leaders have built an alliance in a bid to block the proposal to sell out the pine logs for the next 37 years.
They say the move would threaten the industry's future, cost jobs and the state millions of dollars each year for decades.

Editorial: Axe poised over timber revenue

January 10, 2011 The Advertiser

THE potential sale of state-owned plantation timber to a private buyer has caused concern.
The timber industry representatives, local government leaders, businessmen and workers and their families are desperately rallying to spread the message that this State Government proposal has effects which reach much further than the Green Triangle.
They warn not only of the potential for thousands of job losses and lost business income in the South-East, but also a rise in building-timber prices and increased fire dangers as resources are pulled from our forests.
Already timber yards have battled to get enough logs to keep them operating at their full potential and employing all that the timber industry is able to support.
Interest in our logs from overseas is strong and timber-starved countries such as China and India pay growers almost twice as much for our logs as can be made on the domestic market.
But the real value in the state's timber industry is the opportunity to value add to the raw material by utilising state-of-the art processing yards which support thousands of workers.
Industries have evolved to utilise almost all the product from the forests, eliminating waste and generating substantial economic benefits for the state.
Those closest to the industry suggest the proposed sale price for the 37 years of harvests is at best just a quarter of the true value. The industry already injects $43 million a year into state revenue and the proposed sale could leave the state with expensive costs rather than a profitable operation.
The buyer would not have any allegiance to the South-East sawmills and once the deal is done, there is no turning back for decades.
Rightly, stakeholders in the South-East point out the dramatic flow-on effects and economic losses that come when any logs are sent offshore for processing.
Valuable tax revenue will be lost, and there will be losses for transport companies through to the corner shops where sawmill workers spend money.
It is this anticipated flow-on effect which has sparked widespread fear among the South-East community and has it rallying against the proposal.

Click on the link for more Campaign news    www.cfmeuffpd.org.au/news/4199.html  or scroll down to view campaign media articles from 2010