Libs’ $220m pledge to secure forestry jobs

Scott Morrison will use a $220m forestry package to win votes in northern Tasmania and sandbag Coalition-held seats.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Picture: Jason Edwards

Scott Morrison will use a $220m forestry package to win votes in northern Tasmania and sandbag the Coalition-held seats of Bass and Braddon, mirroring John Howard’s pitch to forestry workers ahead of the 2004 election campaign.

The Prime Minister said he would “never support shutdowns of native forestry” and would work with state governments to create permanent timber production areas across the country.

Ramping up pressure on ­Anthony Albanese in Tasmania over competing demands from conservationists and the timber sector, Mr Morrison pledged to secure 73,000 forestry jobs by modernising and accelerating ­expansion of the $23bn industry.

As Mr Morrison maintains his campaign focus on economic ­security, the Opposition Leader is preparing a tour of GP clinic sites to promote Labor’s plan to ease pressure on hospital emergency departments.

The Coalition pre-election sweeteners for Tasmanian forestry workers include making Launceston, which takes in parts of Bass and the Labor-held target seat of Lyons, the central hub of its $100m national institute for forest products innovation.

About $113m in grants will ­accelerate the adoption of new wood processing technologies and 11 regional forestry hubs have been allocated an extra $6.6m.

With the timber industry a major economic driver in Tasmania, Mr Morrison said he was backing long-term forestry jobs and future-proofing against building material shortages, which peaked as global supply chains came under pressure during the pandemic. “Global ­demand for wood products is set to quadruple by 2050 so this ­investment in the jobs and future of the forestry industry is critical,” Mr Morrison said.

“The pressures on the building industry and the uncertain international trade situation has made it clear that local wood products and local skills are critical. Just ask any tradie who has been trying to get wood products.”

Albanese tries to reboot

Attempting to reboot Labor’s campaign after his first-day economics gaffe, Mr Albanese used an Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation speech to announce two health policies and attack the Coalition on Medicare.

Labor’s major health policy, a $135m plan to roll out 50 Medicare urgent care clinics in GP surgeries and community health centres, was attacked by the Australian Medical Association for failing to fix the “health crisis”.

AMA president Omar Khorshid said the clinics would do ­“little to relieve the hospital logjam, further fragment care and unfairly compete with nearby general practices”. Shifting his ­attack on the ­Coalition to Medicare, Mr Albanese said “our conservative opponents know they cannot any more propose to abolish universal healthcare, so they have resorted to undermining it”.

“It is only Labor that believes to our core in Medicare,” he said. “Good healthcare has to be available to every single Australian, ­regardless of your postcode or the size of your bank balance.

“It isn’t a lottery. It isn’t the preserve of the lucky few. It ­belongs to all of us.”

Scott Morrison visits the Wurdi Baierr Stadium in Torquay, Victoria on Wednesday. Picture: Jason Edwards

Mr Morrison on Wednesday visited Geelong for the second time in six days to announce a $250m funding package up­grading the nation’s two fuel refineries in Corio and Brisbane.

Coalition strategists are pouring resources into the Labor-held seat of Corangamite, held on a slim 1.1 per cent margin, where the Liberals are running high-profile Geelong mayor Stephanie Asher.

The forestry election package, adding to $90.6m promised in the March 29 budget, will bolster the prospects of Bass MP Bridget Archer and Braddon MP Gavin Pearce, who hold margins of 0.4 and 3.1 per cent.

In the final week of the 2004 election campaign, then Tasmanian Labor premier Paul Lennon and CFMEU Tasmanian secretary Scott McLean slammed Mark Latham’s forestry policy and got behind Mr Howard’s pitch to timber workers.

On the back of the forestry stoush, Mr Howard reclaimed Bass and Braddon.

Tasmanian Liberal senator and Assistant Forestry and Fisheries Minister Jonno Duniam ­accused Mr Albanese and Labor of remaining “silent while the Victorian and WA Labor governments shut down native forestry”.

Senator Duniam, who leads the Liberals Senate ticket in Tasmania, said “we want to increase our self-reliance when it comes to wood supply and that means more job opportunities, more ­research and more manufacturing processing here in Australia”.

“Instead of importing products from overseas, we want to grow the trees here, process them here and add value to them right here in Australia,” he said.

“These investments mean helping our businesses and workers develop new timber products for buildings, turning wood waste into useful materials, and replacing plastics with wood-based bioplastics.”

Senator Duniam said the ­Coalition had made plantation expansion easier and invested $40m to “help the sector recover from the Black Summer bushfires … We’ve committed to planting one billion trees, and we’ve beefed up our moves to stop illegal timber imports from undercutting Australian producers.

“Australia’s forests aren’t just the basis of a critical industry supporting 73,000 jobs, they also store 22 billion tonnes of carbon. Our investments are good for jobs and good for the climate.”