Senator Richard Colbeck
Progress continues on the plan to build on the achievements of Australia’s forestry industries and secure the economic and social well being of regional communities across the country. Source: Timberbiz
Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Senator Richard Colbeck co-chaired the recent Forest Industry Advisory Council (FIAC) meeting in Melbourne to discuss the implementation of the government’s National Forest Industries Plan – Growing a better Australia.
“The government has invested $20 million to the delivery of the National Forest Industries Plan and industry knows just how important it is to the growth of the renewable timber and wood-fibre industry,” Minister Colbeck said.
“FIAC is a key mechanism to have informed industry input into government policies and programs, and the implementation of the plan was top of the agenda.
“The National Forest Industries Plan provides the vision and certainty for Australia’s sustainable forestry industries to invest and prepare for the future.
“A key theme which came up when developing the plan was the need for Australia to plant a billion new plantation trees over the next decade to meet demand out to 2050, particularly sawlogs for building and construction, with global demand projected to quadruple in that timeframe.
“It is clear there is much work ahead to support the sustainable forestry industries as long-term growth engines for regional Australia.
“It is important we work hand-in-glove with industry to implement the plan and take hold of the opportunities ahead.”
FIAC provides advice to the government and includes a cross-section of forest industry participants.
“We were also able to discuss priorities for the coming years, including research and development priorities,” Senator Colbeck said.
The National Forest Industries Plan – Growing a better Australia is available at http://www.agriculture.gov.au/forestry
