Will jobs, animals and plants be threatened as Forests NSW tightens its belt in a restructure was a question asked by the Australian Workers Union (AWU) at a Bombala meeting this week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The NSW Government is saying ‘no’ but is facing criticism from the AWU and the Greens who want more guarantees and detail.
Long term Member for Bega Andrew Constance says employees would transition to the new state-owned corporation along with all their entitlements but could only guarantee no jobs would be lost immediately.
He believed regional areas like Eden and Bombala, which the NSW Government wants to stimulate, would benefit from the restructure.
“We’ll see better returns with the commercial based board providing direction to the state owned corporation,” he said.
“Forests NSW will be able to focus on the core business of growing timber for both hardwood and softwood products.”
AWU NSW secretary Russ Collison was concerned about the focus on Forests NSW core activities, saying the organisation has a triple bottom line and shouldn’t be seen as a “cash cow” for the NSW Government.
“At present, Forests NSW works under a triple bottom line approach - meeting a set of social, environmental and economic objectives,” he said.
“Forests NSW not only manages logging operations, it also manages forests for recreation, environmental protection and fire prevention.
“Turning Forests NSW into a corporation however will see it focus on profit maximisation with little reference to native animal or flora protection.”
Mr Constance said he expected criticism from the unions but wanted to work closely with them.
“I believe this will be a positive change and we’ll see business opportunities popping up all over the place.”
He said the organisation does a “great job” of managing the bush for the public good.
“But we know those working in the timber industry have been so driven to the ground that we just have to change,” he said.
“We want to see better outcomes for mills, both saw and chip, and they’ll continue to receive their allocated volumes and we believe we’ll see better customer service for the industry.
“We have a wonderful timber product in this state, particularly the native hardwood and we want to see towns and employees flourish in a thriving community.”
Like the AWU, Greens member Harriett Swift is also keen to know more details to determine the effect it may have on the flora and fauna.
“It’s hard to know what the differences can be at this stage but we are worried that they are not good,” she said.
“We’re worried that it will reduce transparency.”
Mr Collison said it wasn’t time to panic and that the AWU would be involved in the process every step of the way.
“Forests NSW has already cut its staffing levels by five per cent over the past 12 months,” he said.
“Any further reduction in staff numbers will have a serious impact on forest management.
“We call on the National Party and cross-bench MPs to reject the proposal to corporatise Forests NSW and to safeguard the future of our state forests.”
