NSW resource package 'a sweetheart deal'

NSW resource package 'a sweetheart deal'

The NSW government's proposed natural resources package is a sweetheart deal between the government and large timber corporations which would privatise NSW forests without giving any real job security to timber workers, according to Adrian Rickets of the North East Forest Alliance.

"The package has been cooked up by National Party ministers, and sets up a system of binding wood supply contracts with timber corporations, which would provide massive compensation to the corporation if the timber is not supplied.

"There is no provision for any compensation to be payable to timber workers, their families or affected communities.

"The effect of the legislation would be to further entrench the monopoly of large corporations such as Boral, which would lead to more job losses in the long term."

Rickets pointed out that 30 jobs on the north coast had already been lost as a result of Boral's takeover of Duncans Holdings.

"Boral now has a virtual monopoly on quota sawlog allocations on the north coast, and there is no doubt that this situation will lead to further job losses as Boral rationalises its timber interests.

"If rural communities think that the government's package will protect jobs, they have been hoodwinked.

Rickets said that if the government was really interested in natural resource security and sustainability, it would implement a program which would create sustainable employment through plantation programs and conversion of mill technology to rely on smaller regrowth timbers.

A rally against the natural resources package will be held on Friday, November 13, at 12 noon outside NSW Parliament House, Macquarie St, Sydney.

From GLW issue 78