Heyfield calls for government support
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Heyfield calls for government support

The Heyfield community has called on the State Government to provide support to Australian Sustainable Hardwoods at Heyfield by moving a motion in favour of the mill at the community meeting on Wednesday night.

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, who attended the meeting and spoke in front of a packed Heyfield Memorial Hall, said a motion was put forward, stating:

We call on Daniel Andrews (Premier of Victoria) to keep his word that he will fight for every job so that:

     • The Heyfield Mill will stay open;

     • Its 250 staff will keep their jobs;

     • The town of Heyfield and the surrounding areas, businesses and communities have a future;

     • The thousands of businesses that rely on ASH’s products will also have a future;

     • Australian-made high-quality hardwood timber products from Australian-grown, environmentally-sustainable and commercially-managed regrowth forests are not replaced by imported products; and

     • Over 7000 (indirect) jobs/families in Victoria are saved from flow-on effects.

“It was pleasing to see the Heyfield community out in force to fight for the future of their town, and make their voices heard,” Mr Bull said.

“The Government has started a working group to assist ASH going forward, and engaged Regional Development Victoria to help with funding for the longer-term security of the plant, however what we need now is the Premier to intervene and ensure short-term supply, which has been lost due to the amount of harvesting areas that have been placed into reserve of recent times,” he said.

“VicForests have said themselves that this is the reason for the reduction in timber. You can’t just put timber that was available in 2014 into reserve, without finding a replacement and expect there will be no ramifications.”

 

 

Thursday, February 2, 2017