New Chairman of Forestry Tasmania

The Deputy Premier, Bryan Green, today announced the appointment of highly regarded corporate leader Bob Annells as the new chairman of Forestry Tasmania.
Mr Green said the appointment would provide Forestry Tasmania, its workforce and stakeholders with stability and certainty.

“Mr Annells has wide business experience and is an exceptional choice to take on the role of Chair,” Mr Green said.

“The Government wants to ensure the board of Forestry Tasmania has the leadership and necessary skills and expertise to move the business forward.

“Mr Annells has the commercial and board experience that will greatly assist in building a strong and viable commercial forestry business for the future.

“The Government is committed to Forestry Tasmania remaining a standalone corporate entity responsible for commercial wood production.

Mr Green said the Government was determined to ensure Forestry Tasmania was on a firm financial footing in the face of the worst downturn the industry has seen.

“Everything the Government has done and what we are doing now is to ensure Forestry Tasmania remains a viable Government Business Enterprise,” Mr Green said.

• Nick McKim: FORESTRY TASMANIA RESTRUCTURE

Nick McKim MP
Greens Leader
Tuesday, 25 September 2012

The Tasmanian Greens today acknowledged the concerns of Forestry Tasmania employees worried about the State Government’s decision to restructure the GBE.

Greens Leader Nick McKim MP said that the decision to split the commercial and non-commercial functions of Forestry Tasmania was based on a recommendation by independent experts URS- Deloitte, and was aimed at ensuring the best outcomes for the Tasmanian taxpayers.

“The Greens sympathise with employees of Forestry Tasmania who are feeling uncertainty over their future and over the future of the organisation as it undergoes this transition, but the current structure is simply unsustainable,” Mr McKim said.

“The reality is that Tasmanian taxpayers cannot continue to prop up Forestry Tasmania in its current form.”

“Forestry Tasmania has been haemorrhaging taxpayers’ money, and an independent consultant has found that the organisation is unable to meet its obligations under the Government Business Enterprise Act 1995”.

“It has also been estimated that Forestry Tasmania is set to lose between $25 million and $30 million per year for the next five years.”

“The Greens take no pleasure that we were right all along about the long-term market changes and problems facing the forest industry and Forestry Tasmania, because it has affected the lives of many people in the industry.”

“The simple fact is that these changes are the direct result of previous governments’ refusal to acknowledge the need for change.”

”It is time that Forestry Tasmania was restructured so that we stop ripping money out of schools, hospitals and public services to satisfy the demands of a failed government business, and to remove the multiple conflicts of interest and market interference that has been its hallmark,” Mr McKim said.