Tasmania’s forest industries were devastated by the previous Labor-Green government’s job-destroying Forest Agreement.
The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to rebuilding Tasmania’s forest industry, and we are also working to assist those who were left out in the cold under the previous government.
Assistance programs operated by the previous Labor-Green governments in Hobart and Canberra denied help to many contractors.
The Liberal Government has been considering options to provide limited assistance to those that missed out and continue to suffer hardship.
This is about providing an admittedly small measure of assistance to forest industry workers, and will target assistance at those who have been ineligible under previous industry exit and employee assistance programs.
Our hardship scheme will allocate up to $1 million in existing federal money already set aside for this purpose. We will make a formal announcement when the details have been finalised with the Commonwealth.
Today’s statement by Ms O’Connor confirms the Greens’ callous disregard for the victims of their disastrous forest policies.
This is not new money – it simply reallocates some of the money already set aside by Labor and the Greens to compensate for wrecking the industry.
Ms O’Connor has never apologised to the 4343 people who lost their job under the TFA.
Now she wants to deny even a limited hardship payment to provide a helping hand to those who have been left on the Green scrapheap.
Paul Harriss, Minister for Resources
