THE timber industry has received a boost of confidence for at-risk Victorian jobs following the Prime Minister’s announcement last week of $219.5 million for innovation and research in Australia’s forestry sector.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said as the country tackled building material shortages and uncertainty around global supply chains, the jobs and skills in Australia’s forestry industry in regional areas were critical to a stronger future.

He said the funding would help secure the forestry industry’s 73,000 jobs and provide investment in new technologies to expand the sector.

He also said he would never support shutdowns of native forestry and would work with State Governments to create permanent timber production areas.

Only last week, the Victorian Agriculture shadow minister, Peter Walsh slammed the State Government over its plan to phase out thousands of Victorian jobs in the timber industry.

Mr Walsh said the Prime Minister’s announcement was in stark contrast to the Victorian Government’s cruel campaign to destroy local jobs by starving mills and manufacturers of native timber resource.

“Thousands of Victorians rely on a sustainable supply of native timber for jobs that pay the bills and put food on the table, but in the past few years Victorian Labor’s been hellbent on dismantling confidence and certainty,” he said.

Timber Towns Victoria (TTV) chair and Glenelg Shire deputy mayor, Karen Stephens, was also critical of the Victorian Government’s intention to shut down the native timber sector.

“The Victorian Government knows the devasting flow-on impacts in small regional communities where there are limited alternative employment opportunities, low chance of re-skilling, and when 35 per cent of log sawmilling are sole income earners for their household,” Cr Stephens said.

Permewans Hamilton business owner, Paul Bast, said there had been challenges throughout the pandemic with timber supply but only due to a spike in demand for timber products from the building industry for housing.

“In my 30 years of working in the timber industry, I’ve seen this happen three times, but this has been the biggest demand ever,” he said.

“There’s no shortage, just a huge spike in demand.

“OneFortyOne is our timber supplier based in Mount Gambier, South Australia, and they have had to put in more kilns to cope with the rise in demand.

“The Prime Minister’s announcement does provide business confidence in technology advancements, but if interest rates go up though, the building industry may slow and that may mean we will have an abundance.”

The nearly $220 million pledge includes $100 million for a new National Institute for Forest Products Innovation in Launceston and five smaller Centres of Excellence in other parts of the country.

Mr Walsh said it was crucial Victoria was home to one of these Centres of Excellence.

“With the right skills and investment in new, innovative technologies, we can secure a prosperous future for thousands of Victorian jobs in a sustainable industry that generates billions for the Victorian economy,” Mr Walsh said.

$1.3 million will go specifically towards developing new and targeted Australian hybrid engineered wood products through a trade and market access grant.

The Agricultural Trade and Market Access Cooperation (ATMAC) grant will help Australia’s forest and wood products industry to add more value to lower quality forestry resources onshore in Australia, creating more jobs in regional communities and helping to diversify our timber exports.

Wannon MP, Dan Tehan said the project would help support trade diversification.

“(It) will provide a significant boost for the timber industry across the Green Triangle and continue to secure jobs in Wannon and benefit the Port of Portland,” he said.

The Green Triangle spans the border area between the states of South Australia and Victoria with ready access to the capital cities of Melbourne and Adelaide covering an area of six million hectares.

The associated timber industry processing activities are centred around Mt Gambier in South Australia and the Port of Portland in Victoria.

Barker MP, Tony Pasin said this ATMAC grant would help grow more jobs and improve the resilience of the local industry in his electorate - part of which is in the Green Triangle.

“The forestry sector in areas such as the Green Triangle in South Australia, and the broader Australian forest and wood products industry, will benefit from this domestic value-adding project, which will make the financial returns of plantation forestry more attractive,” he said.

The project is in collaboration with the Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub and is supported by the Australian Forest Products Association.