Members Statement
Mr D O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (12:29): A big shout-out to the timber industry and the strong and proud community of Heyfield for turning out in force for the Heyfield Timber Festival on the weekend, the first time the event has been held since 1994. There was a huge crowd and a great display of support for this sustainable, job-creating industry that is so crucial to many in Gippsland.
It was a pleasure to join the member for Gippsland East, the member for Murray Plains, Melina Bath in the other place and our federal colleague Darren Chester in showing The Nationals’ strong support for this important industry. We were joined by CFMMEU forestry division officials, but not surprisingly there were no Labor MPs within cooee. Labor’s politically motivated decision to end native timber harvesting is a disaster for our region, our state and indeed the global environment as the net result will simply be that we end up importing more timber from countries without the safeguards and environmental standards that we have here. Well done to Felicia Stevenson and her team for putting on a great festival celebrating this important Gippsland industry.