Polwarth electorate
Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (14:46): (904) My question today is to the Minister for Agriculture, and the question my constituents have is: Minister, will you be providing, in the coming months and years, access to commercial firewood cutters and access to well-managed, recyclable, replenishable, sustainable firewood from our state forests? A petition presented today by the constituents of Polwarth has called on you, Minister, to reconsider and look to provide commercial quantities of firewood. I thank Daniel Heinze and others who have organised the petition, who find that many of their customers rely, in this cost-of-living crisis, on affordable, reliable wood for heating, hot water, cooking and other basic services in and around the home. It is an essential service. The cost of energy and the cost of keeping warm is getting harder and harder. Minister, I ask you to look at this.