Thursday, 19 October 2023

Eastern Victoria Region

Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:59): (487) My question is for the Minister for Energy and Resources. Victoria has relied on the native timber industry for its wood and paper and crucial machinery and manpower during bushfires. This week a timber industry worker contacted me. He has repeatedly emailed the minister for energy to ask for evidence to support her media release claims from 7 November 2019 attacking the timber industry. Among other things, the minister’s media release claims that banning the timber logging industry would reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by a level that is equivalent to taking 730,000 cars off the road annually. So my question is: can the minister provide the evidence to back this claim that closing the native timber industry will be equivalent to taking 730,000 cars off the road?

Sitting suspended 1:00 pm until 2:02 pm.