Well Mr Premier, my federal parliamentary colleagues Eric Abetz and Michael Ferguson and Mark Baker, ladies and gentlemen. This is a very historic moment for the timber industry, for the employees in that industry, for the investors in that industry and for the people of Tasmania, and indeed the people of Australia.
In signing the Agreement we have I believe that the Commonwealth and Tasmanian Governments have struck a true balance between the preservation of jobs and the provision of hope and a future for the timber communities of Tasmania and the environment of Australia. I have always believed that it was possible to strike the balance and in signing this Agreement today I'm proud to say that I have delivered on the promise I made to the communities and the workers of the timber industry in Tasmania on the 6th of October in the Albert Hall in Launceston. So I believe then as I still do that it is possible to have both and this beautiful vista that is behind us is a demonstration that you can have both.
By delivering the one million hectare commitment, by meeting the other commitments, by now preserving 87 per cent of the Tarkine and 53 per cent of the Styx, the commitment to the phasing out of 1080, the clear felling commitments, the land clearing commitments, taking all of those things together we have achieved something for the future of the industry and importantly for the future of this beautiful part of the Australian environment.
I want to thank many people, I want to thank the Tasmanian Government, this has been a cooperative effort. We have worked together. I want to thank the officials of Forestry Tasmania and the officials of my own department and the officials of other departments in the Commonwealth. This is an example of what Governments at a federal and state level can do if they're willing to work together and I thank the Premier for his spirited cooperation and commitment.
I want to thank the communities, I also want to thank the forestry division of the CFMEU for the very constructive attitude that it has adopted. It cares for the job security of its members and that is something I will always respect in a trade union because job security of Australian working people is something that I care about very deeply and I'm very proud that the hallmark of this Agreement and the hallmark of my approach to this whole issue has been the preservation of the jobs of Australians and we have achieved that and I'm very pleased indeed that we've been able to achieve it hand in glove with achieving something permanent for the environment of Australia.
So it is a great day for the environment, it's a great day for the workers of Tasmania and it's a great day for cooperative federalism. We need to work together to solve problems, we don't always agree, Mr Lennon and I come from different political parties but that matters not when you're working to preserve the jobs of Australians and we have worked together in order to do that and I thank him and I congratulate him on the contribution that the Tasmanian Government has made to this great outcome.
[ends]
(Further details on these measures are available in the related Media Release.)