The Minister for Resources, Guy Barnett, and the Minister for Infrastructure, Rene Hidding, today hailed a new export deal for southern Tasmanian forestry products as a clear sign of the resurgence of the forestry industry.
“Today’s announcement that TasPorts and Qube Ports have established a joint venture to facilitate the export of forestry products from Tasmania’s southern forests is a red-letter day for the industry,” Minister Barnett said.
“This will unlock the potential in Tasmania’s southern forests and importantly, it will create jobs in regional Tasmania.
“It provides a clear path forward for the industry and will help undo the damage done by Labor and the Greens and their job-destroying forestry deal.
“It will also provide opportunities for private tree growers who suffered severely under the Labor-Green Government.
“To be clear: there will not be a woodchip pile on the port.
“This joint venture will complement the recent EOI process to address southern forest residues and I am confident that the export facilities will be well utilised by a number of exporters working in the forestry sector."
Infrastructure Minister Rene Hidding said timber products have long been exported from the Port of Hobart and the establishment of the Southern Export Terminal will see the return of log exports, which have a decades-long history of being shipped from the Port.
“Hobart is a port city. The Port underpins the city’s history and the city’s future and we need to make best use of it, which is exactly what this five-year joint venture does,” Minister Hidding said.
“Not only that, it will directly create 25 jobs and support hundreds more in the community.
“The logs themselves will be stored on site. The height of any log stack will be no more than eight metres, which is half the height of the existing port facilities.
“As for the impact on traffic, it will be minimal.
“It’s expected that an additional one or two trucks will access the Port each hour, coming in equal numbers from the Derwent Valley and the south of Hobart.
“A curfew will be in place on log trucks at the Port during the morning and afternoon traffic peaks, which will help reduce congestion,” Minister Hidding said.
Minister Barnett concluded by saying that this is a fantastic opportunity for Tasmania, especially regional Tasmania.
“This opportunity is too good to miss out on. This will help revive one of Tasmania’s pillar industries and will provide opportunities for hundreds of Tasmanians to get a job or to start a business. We will always stand up for industries like forestry to grow the economy and deliver jobs,” Minister Barnett said.