State Opposition leader, Matthew Guy, has committed to providing Australian Sustainable Hardwoods (ASH) at Heyfield with the resource it requires to stay open, but with the next state election not until November 2018, it is critical the current Labor Government now also commits the timber supply required. Mr Guy was visiting Heyfield with State MPs Tim Bull (Gippsland East) and Danny O’Brien (Gippsland South). “It was pleasing to hear Matthew state quite clearly that Gippsland jobs are a priority, that he recognises the importance of ASH to Heyfield and the region and the mill must be kept open by providing it with the necessary timber supply,” Mr Bull said. “Yesterday marked the four-week deadline the Minister gave herself to have this issue resolved, yet we heard nothing and the workers and their families deserve better than silence. “While the community is sick of waiting to hear, you would have thought the Government would at least say it needed more time on the day the deadline expired, but we heard nothing,” Mr Bull said. Mr O’Brien said: “The timber was there in 2014 and it is there now, we just need a government with the political will to put the workers and their families first in their deliberations”. Caption: State Opposition leader, Matthew Guy, discusses the future of ASH at Heyfield with mill chief executive officer, Vince Hurley, and local MPs Tim Bull and Danny O’Brien. Tuesday, February 28, 2017