OneFortyOne welcomes opportunity to meet with SA Labor Party

The future of forestry in the Green Triangle will be high on the agenda when OneFortyOne meets with the frontbench of the South Australian Labor Party during its visit to the Limestone Coast this week.

OneFortyOne took part in a Forest Industry Roundtable on Monday 27 July 2020 with State Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas, Shadow Treasurer Stephen Mulligan and Shadow Minister for Industry and Skills Clare Scriven. A meeting was also held today on site at OneFortyOne.

OneFortyOne Australia Executive General Manager Cameron MacDonald said the company welcomed the opportunity to meet with the party and was pleased it was showing an interest in the forestry industry.

“There are a number of important points we will be raising with the party during its visit to Mount Gambier,” he said.

 “OneFortyOne wants to use this opportunity to explore and protect the future of the forestry industry in the Green Triangle and to do that we need to ask ourselves what we need to do to grow and be a sustainable world-class industry.

“We will also be using the opportunity to ensure Members of Parliament understand the depth and breadth of jobs that are involved in the industry across the entire supply chain in both the domestic and export sectors.”

Mr MacDonald he would be looking to understand more about the Labor Party’s policy intentions in regard to carbon and climate change, noting that the New Zealand government’s recent ‘Building for Climate Change’ announcement identified a change in construction materials as one way to reduce the carbon footprint of NZ buildings to combat climate change.

“The obvious choice for this is timber, since it locks up carbon and we believe there is scope for something similar here in SA,” he said.

Mr MacDonald said water was another environmental issue the company was keen to discuss.

“We note that the Lower Limestone Coast Water Allocation Plan, amended in June 2019, heavily relies on ground water modelling that uses 2004 data,” he said.

“Under the proposed reductions, other water users were required to reduce their allocation over a period with reductions implemented every second year, but forest growers were required to implement reductions every year as plantations were clearfelled.

“The forest industry appears to have taken up a greater proportion of the reduction than other users.”

Mr MacDonald said it was important MPs understood the unique nature of a cross-border community and required careful consideration regarding COVID-19-related border restrictions.

“The ability for border communities to cross the border openly underpins the economy in the Green Triangle,” he said.

“Fire risk will be another key topic for discussion in our meeting with the Labor Party because a key point in our submission to the independent review into South Australia’s 2019-20 bushfire season was that stronger prevention restrictions and measures will complement our fire suppression capability.

“This will ensure climatic and environmental conditions are not exacerbated by intentional or negligent human acts.

“Linked to this is regional connectivity and mobile blackspots. Inadequate telecommunications infrastructure not only creates difficulty for businesses in rural and remote communities but is also a safety risk in emergency events such as bushfire.”

Ends

Media Contact Jessica Douglas. Ph: +61 400 186 293 E: jessica.douglas@onefortyone.com 

Download press release here.