Industry job loss claims overblown

Friday, August 28, 2009

Media release

Environment groups today called for the River Red Gum logging industry and its lobby groups to apologise for creating unnecessary community concern over job losses associated with the creation of new Red Gum national parks along the River Murray.

The Victorian National Parks Association's spokesperson Nick Roberts said that over the past three years, the logging industry and its supporters have made various claims about the number of job losses ranging from 80 to more than a thousand.

The Victorian Government today confirmed that a total of just 32 affected workers across the state had taken the government's assistance package. The VNPA today welcomed the package to create new jobs.

"These figures expose the exaggerated claims of the logging industry and its supporters as being grossly inaccurate," Mr Roberts said.

"While any job losses are always unwelcome, these false and misleading claims created far greater community angst than was necessary.

"With 30 new park ranger positions and 10 new positions in forest management, there will be 40 direct jobs coming online as a result of Red Gum parks. On top of this, PricewaterhouseCoopers predicted that 23 jobs would be created in the tourism sector as a result of the new national parks.

"This outcome will deliver a significant jobs boost to regional Victoria, while creating a system of world class national parks for Victorians and international visitors to enjoy."

The VNPA is now encouraging Victoria's opposition parties to back the national parks legislation when it enters parliament later this year.

"With these parks delivering a welcome boost to regional communities from job creation and visitation, we hope the opposition parties will support this legislation in the interest of jobs and environmental protection," Mr Roberts said.

"These new parks are a world class example of how you can deliver good, science-based conservation outcomes, protect threatened species and create jobs and employment opportunities for regional communities."

Contact for this story
Nick Roberts, 0429 945 429.

Job myth quotes:

Quotes attributed to the logging industry and its supporters from 2006 to 2009 in relation to job losses from the creation of the new national parks.

"I believe that approximately 90 jobs in the investigation area associated with the timber industry, plus flow-on effects from that, so that's fairly dramatic in itself."
- Kevin Swan, timber cutter, Landline 2006

"There are at least 80 direct jobs in the timber industry on the chopping block. Add a multiplier of a least five and you end up with 400 families that will be adversely affected by these outcomes."
- Scott Gentle, Timber Communities Australia (TCA) 20 July, 2007

"The government's failure to provide this money has created an enormous amount of uncertainty for timber workers and their families.

"... the Victorian Association of Forest Industries estimates it will be in the order of 470 direct and indirect jobs.

"Other studies estimate north central Victoria's timber industry directly contributes about $98.31 million to the local economy each year and provides employment to more than
450 people."
- Peter Walsh, Federal Member for Swan Hill, Media release, July 2009

"One thousand and eight hundred jobs gone."
- Max Shier, Rivers and Red Gum Alliance, April 2008, Country News

"In its draft report, VEAC recommended the creation of a string of new national parks, an end to logging and grazing in the red gum forests and the five-year artificial flooding of the Murray Valley. It also conceded its recommendations would cost hundreds of jobs in country communities."
Damian Drum, Nationals' Member for the Northern Region, media release, October 2007

"It has known from day one that the plan would devastate some northern communities and cost hundreds of breadwinners their jobs, but that was always put on the back-burner while it chased its green dreams."
Damian Drum, Nationals' Member for the Northern Region, media release, April 2009