E&OE..........................................................................................................................
Premier and ladies and gentlemen, I would like to welcome you here.
This is the signing of the Central Highlands Regional Forest Agreement.
It is the second RFA signed in Victoria and the third in a series
- the two Victorian ones and one in Tasmania.
The best news out of this is that it's going to create 300 new
jobs. And that is a very important element of the Regional Forest
Agreement. It's a very balanced outcome. It represents yet another
putting aside of the phoney war between environmental concerns and
job creation and development. Conservation is important but so is
job creation.
And there's a funding package of $28 million for industry development.
It will provide a 20-year period of security for investment. There
is 116,000 hectares of additional reserves, which is an increase of
64 per cent. And the RFA that we are signing in a moment meets all
of the required scientific criteria. And when added to the existing
reserves, almost half of the Central Highlands area will have been
reserved. So when you set that against the 300 jobs that has been
created, the 20-year security, $28 million investment, it's a
win-win situation and it's another example of the sensible, cooperative
approach that's being adopted to these issues which is of benefit
to Victoria and, most importantly, it creates new jobs for Australians
- 300 in this case - and also evinces a proper concern for the environment.
So I'm delighted to be here with the Premier today to sign it.
[Ends]