Doorstop at Somerset

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
SOMERSET
TUESDAY, 19 AUGUST 2025

Subjects: National Forestry Day, Albanese Labor Government expanding Australia’s forestry plantations.

ANNE URQUHART, MEMBER FOR BRADDON: Well, thanks very much for being here. We're at the Forico Nursery at Somerset. It's great to be here with the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and also here with Senator Josh Dolega and representatives from Forico. It's National Forestry Day, and I know that the Minister is going to talk a little bit more about that, but it's a beautiful day, and we're very lucky to have this fantastic sustainable industry right here in Tasmania. And to have this nursery right here on the North West Coast in the seat of Braddon is even better from my point of view. So, I'll hand over to Julie.

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Thanks, Anne. It is terrific to be here on National Forestry Day. Importantly, today I'm pleased to be able to announce here in Anne's seat of Braddon, plantation funding from the Federal Government. We'll be announcing today another $19 million for another 15 plantation sites around the country, including five here in Tasmania. Obviously, Forico and the nursery here supply seedlings to some of these plantations. We know how important plantation timber is to Tasmania and to the nation. It's part of the $300 million that our government is investing when it comes to a sustainable timber industry in Australia. We know it's important because we don't have enough timber in Australia. We’re a net importer of timber. What we’re doing as a government is working with industry to make sure that we get more trees in the ground. Importantly, they need to be the right trees. Here at Forico, they've got some softwood and some hardwood for those plantations, and in terms of the grants today, there's a mixture of grants for soft and hardwood being planted for the various uses. We know that we need timber for homes, we need timber for a whole range of purposes and it would be terrific if that timber could all be Australian timber. I'm going to hand over to Richard from the Australian Forest Products Association to talk more about National Forestry Day. It's also terrific to have Nick Steel, our local, here from Tas Forest Products Association to talk about National Forestry Day. And then I'm happy to take some questions about either the grants or other issues.

RICHARD HYETT, AUSTRALIAN FOREST PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION: Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Senator. And thank you, Member for Braddon Anne Urquhart and thank you Forico for hosting us. Happy National Forestry Day. We're really pleased that the Minister has taken time on National Forestry Day to make this important announcement. The PM and the Treasurer are in Canberra over the next couple of days, talking productivity. And timber, and sovereign capability in timber, is really important for productivity in Australia and for affordable housing. So, we're really excited to have this announcement today. Timber is also important in meeting our climate goals. It spends its life sucking out carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, growing as a tree, and then stores that carbon as long life products in housing. We know that demand for - worldwide demand for timber is going to quadruple by 2050. And we know if we don't plant trees that our reliance on imports is expected to double by 2050. So, it's really important that we use this initiative and this program to plant more trees. Our reliance on exports has been a problem for us. During COVID, we showed we couldn't get the timber we needed. So, it's really important. And I'd like to thank Minister Collins who's been a great champion for the industry and thank you for being here and making this important announcement on National Forestry Day.

COLLINS: Questions?

JOURNALIST: What prompted the decision to further expand this sector?

COLLINS: Well, we made a commitment back prior to the 2022 election that we would be investing in a sustainable timber industry in Australia. And as I've said, we've now invested around $300 million. It includes some plantation grants, but importantly, it also includes working with industry on a Timber Fibre Strategy. We recently received that Timber Fibre Strategy, and we'll be working our way through that. What we want to do is to make sure we're getting the best utilisation of the timber that Australia has available, and to make sure we get more timber in the ground. What we're talking about with the plantation grants to date, I mean, this announcement today is around 2,700 hectares, but we've announced now it's 25,000 hectares of plantations with investment from the Albanese Labor Government and industry together.

JOURNALIST: Have you heard much feedback from industry figureheads?

COLLINS: Well, what we know is these plantation grants are widely welcomed. They're important to Australia in terms of making sure that we've got sustainable timber going into the future. And as we've heard, the demand for timber is only going to increase. We know timber is really important when it comes to the housing construction. We know it's important for other uses across the country. So, we want to continue to work with industry to make sure we get more timber in the ground in terms of plantations. We know it's important for the climate as well. But importantly, we want to make sure we get the best utilisation of existing timber resource as well.

JOURNALIST: When it comes to Tasmania, how will this support industry here?

COLLINS: As I've said, in this latest round of 15 grants, there's five grants for Tasmania, so this will be important. There have been previous grants announced where Tasmania has been the beneficiary. I think up to 15 now grants in Tasmania to date from the program. And importantly, this will get more trees on the ground in Tasmania to make sure that we have future plantations available for timber.

JOURNALIST: Can you further explain where those five grants will be going though, for the state?

COLLINS: They're around the state. There's one here in Braddon, there's one in the North East, and there's some in central Tasmania. They are across the state. They are across the nation. These are important grants and the grant round for those that are interested, is still open. We still have around $27 million available for grants for plantations for people that want to plant more trees.

JOURNALIST: Do you expect to further grow this plantation establishment program in the coming years?

COLLINS: What we expect is to continue to work with industry and the sector on what is required to have a sustainable timber industry going forward. We know how important it is to the Australian economy.

JOURNALIST: And what will this do for jobs in the sector?

COLLINS: This will mean, of course, that there are jobs along the entire supply chain of the timber industry, from plantations all the way to house building, to crafting timber, to the uses of paper in Australia.

JOURNALIST: Will policies like this come with any environmental protections, anything to ensure that aspect?

COLLINS: Of course, we know that planting trees is good for the environment. We've been very clear in terms of having a sustainable timber industry going forward. We know that more plantations are going to be required, and that's why we're investing in those. As I've said, we also need to make sure that we're utilising the timber in a sensible way as part of our Future Made in Australia, our National Reconstruction Fund funding. We want to make sure that we are investing in making sure we utilise that timber in the best possible way.

NICK STEEL, TASMANIAN FOREST PRODUCTS: Can I just add one comment? Prior to the bipartisan commitment at the 2022 election for this grant program, the plantation estate in Australia had shrunk by 200,000 hectares in around five years. And this important plantation program has stopped the decline and started planting trees again to build for it the resources we need for our future.

JOURNALIST: Can I just ask you one question as well? What do you think is driving the increased demand for timber in recent years?

STEEL: Well, mostly housing. If you map the housing demand and the timber use, you'll see they correlate nearly 100 per cent. So, currently our members are struggling to sell timber because there is a slow upturn in the housing market, which has dropped back from COVID, but we're building again. So, we're looking forward to with the government's initiatives in building more houses and helping our industry for the future.