Media Release

Peter Gutwein MP
Shadow Minister for Forestry

Friday 3rd February, 2012

Giddings breaks pledge to protect family owned sawmillers

“…the intergovernmental agreement is all about protecting those sawmillers. The intergovernmental agreement is about protecting those jobs for people who do not work for Gunns.” – Lara Giddings, Parliament, 30th August 2011

The Premier has broken her promise that the IGA would protect family-owned sawmillers.

Throughout the entire, farcical IGA process, Mr Giddings, her Resources Minister Bryan Green, and her predecessor Mr Bartlett have repeatedly claimed that the forest deal would protect family owned sawmillers.

This has now been exposed as yet another Labor lie.

Rather than working to grow our forest industry and protect jobs, the Government has instead spent all its time arguing with themselves over how to shut the industry down.

The IGA has clearly failed on every front:

• Jobs are now being shed at our family owned sawmillers, and more job losses are predicted;
• There is no peace – in fact, the “war” has instead ramped-up, and the Green cabinet members are cheering on the ENGOs as they poison our markets;
• Triabunna has not re-opened as the forest deal stipulates;
• There is no “certainty” – except the certainty of more job losses.

The IGA process has been a debacle and a farce, which we have opposed from day one.

It’s time for the Premier to admit she got it wrong, rip the deal up, and instead work with us to grow our forest industry, not shut it down.