The state government has agreed to stump up an extra $26.9 million for businesses affected by its impending native logging ban, bowing to mounting pressure from the state’s peak forestry body.
During a press conference this afternoon, Forestry Minister Dave Kelly confirmed the state government would revise its business transition program following negotiations with the Forest Industries Federation WA.
The program will include an industry restructure payment to support diversification efforts or businesses exiting the industry and will offer sawmills and harvesters up to $225,000 for redundancy payments, site clean-up and equipment reimbursement.
Though firewood will continue to be made available after 2024, processors will be eligible for $50,000 payments if they do not secure future contracts and opt to exit the industry.
The package is on top of the $50 million transition fund for workers, businesses and communities affected by the ban, which was struck following negotiations with the Australian Workers Union.
The state government has also committed $350 million to expanding softwood plantations over the next decade to provide confidence to the pine industry.
The new deal is a win for FIFWA, but chief executive Adele Farina confirmed it did not go as far as the industry body and its members would have liked.
“In my personal opinion, businesses were entitled to more compensation and I am deeply saddened to see the end of a sustainably managed industry,” she said.
“An industry which enabled the state to meet strong consumer demand for local timber and delivered a better environmental outcome than importing timber from unsustainably managed forests overseas.”
Ms Farina said she hoped the rollout of the program would be prompt, highlighting that affected businesses had a difficult 18 months ahead – forced to choose whether to remain in the industry or end their current contracts while workers leave the industry en-masse.
The opposition labelled the announcement tokenistic, with forestry spokesman Steve Martin saying it demonstrated how little effort the government had put into the transition group and its subgroups.
“The government must now turn its focus on increasing the funding available to deliver a community support package to timber towns in the South West,” he said.
Mr Kelly said the state government had listened to the concerns of industry and the South West community and increased the support accordingly, flagging more support in the form of community development programs in the coming months.
FIFWA has been lobbying against the move since the state government first announced a ban on native forest logging by 2024, amid pressure by environmental groups to make the industry more sustainable.
