Address to the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) Tasmanian Dinner

Thank you for the opportunity to be with you tonight.

I would like to thank AFPA for the invitation, and for bringing together representatives from across Australia's forest products sector.

It is always a pleasure to be here in my home state of Tasmania, a place that continues to play a vital role in Australia's forestry and wood-processing industries.

Of course many of us met in Canberra recently to mark National Forestry Day and recognise the contribution of the people, businesses and communities that underpin this important sector.

And it’s good to see so many familiar faces again tonight.

Our forestry industry and the products it produces are essential to Australia’s economy, our environment, and the critical industries it supports.

Sometimes it is easy to take for granted the wood and wood products we use in our daily lives.

Forestry is in our homes.

It is in the dining tables our families gather around, the chairs we sit on, the frames that hold up our houses, and the materials that make our communities feel strong, safe and connected to the natural world around us.

Australian wood products are practical, beautiful and renewable.

They remind us that a strong domestic forestry industry is not abstract policy, it is part of daily life.

I am proud that our Albanese Labor Government supports Australian forestry in all its forms, including the communities and workers that are critical to its ongoing success.  

Our Government understands that forestry is not just another industry.

It supports regional jobs and communities, bolsters our sovereign capability, supplies the materials we need to build more homes, and contributes to a more sustainable future made in Australia.

That’s why we’re committed to supporting the future of forestry, and working with the sector to implement priorities identified in the Timber Fibre Strategy.

I am proud of our recent $300 million investment through the Forestry Growth Fund to deliver a bigger forestry industry that supports more secure jobs, better pay and more high-value output.

It builds on the previous $300m investment and continues to demonstrate why our Government designated the forestry industry a priority industry under our Future Made in Australia plans.

These investments bring our Government’s total forestry funding to $600 million.  

Of this new $300 million new Forestry Growth Fund, you would be aware $150 million in concessional finance under the Forestry Growth Fund opened to applications in April this year through the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation.

This will help to modernise processing across the industry and deliver on the Timber Fibre Strategy.

Tonight I am excited to announce how our Government will be delivering a further $150 million through the Forestry Growth Fund in industry growth grants and initiatives.

Through this funding we will be investing in five key streams to help modernise Australia’s forest industry.

To support jobs and rural communities.

To advance innovation.

To secure a sustainable fibre supply.

And to our sovereign capability to produce high-value products to support housing and construction.

Through this funding the Albanese Labor Government will deliver the following...

... Up to $85 million to encourage investment in modern wood product processing and value-adding through large-scale grants that significantly transform manufacturing capabilities and innovative facilities.

... Up to $30 million in smaller-scale grants to test concept feasibility and implement projects that encourage forestry industry innovation to promote greater efficiency and productivity across the supply chain.

... Up to $15 million to build forestry workforce capacity, to continue supporting well-paid regional jobs, with clear forestry career pathways and safe and high-performing workplaces.

... Up to $15 million additional support for plantation establishment to boost the supply of domestic forest resources for our nation’s manufacturing and construction needs.

… And $5 million to strengthen the integrity of forest product imports by developing and using tools to support compliance with Australia’s illegal logging laws and reduce the risk of illegally logged or conflict timber entering our supply chains.  

These investments will support the forestry industry of the future.

The design of these investments has been informed by consultation across the forestry industry, unions, communities and state and territory governments.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank forestry industry stakeholders for their strong engagement that helped to inform design of these initiatives – the success of this investment rests on the government listening to those who know the industry best.

We have heard industry stakeholders and been guided by the Timber Fibre Strategy to ensure these new initiatives reflect the sector's priorities.

Grant development is now underway, with first grant opportunities to open in the coming months.

This is a proudly pro-growth agenda for forestry from a Labor Government that proudly backs your industry and the well-paid jobs it supports.

As the Minister who proudly represents your industry in Government, I see the vast opportunities that can come from backing forestry and backing forestry jobs.

Forestry has a bright future, because it sits at the centre of the big changes and the big challenges happening in our national economy.

And our Government doesn’t sit back and pretend these changes and these challenges aren’t happening.

We are doing everything we can to help shape a better future, with forestry and forestry jobs playing a big role.

Forestry is right at the heart of so many of our Government’s ambitious national goals…

…. Contributing to a Future Made in Australia and building our nation’s sovereign capability.

…. Helping to build more homes for Australians as part of our $47 billion plan.

…. And of course Australia’s role in the global clean energy transformation.

Unashamedly our Government backs the contribution forestry and forestry jobs make to each of these changes happening in our national economy.

But sadly, while our Government sees opportunities for your industry, and the jobs it supports in regional Australia…

… others just see another political opportunity.

Our Government’s political opponents have sought in recent weeks to portray your industry, and these jobs in regional Australia including right here in Tasmania, as a threat.

So I want to be clear with you this evening that our Government does not see your industry as a threat.

We know it is a huge opportunity.

Which is why the investments I am announcing tonight are so critical.

Foresty is an industry we will continue to back.

We know we can continue to back forestry while we support other critical industries, including our proud farmers.

Here in Tasmania, and across the country.

We know we don’t have to make a choice between one industry over another…

… we can choose to back both.

We’re doing this because we know how important the forestry and timber products sector is for the health of the whole country.

Not just to those of you in this room, but for the generations to come whose futures will be built with Australian timber.

We’ll continue to back you, invest in your future, and champion your innovation, hard work and skill.

Thank you