Finalising fair timber industry departure packages and fast tracking the now four year bushfire rebuild were yet again raised in State Parliament last week by Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull.

“It beggars belief that this Government is closing down an entire industry and the one thing it can do to support the community – get the bushfire rebuild done – continues to lag,” Mr Bull said.

“It is proof this city centric government does not support rural areas, or have a genuine desire to help our region through a tough period.

“The one thing they could do to assist towns like Orbost is get on with the job and restore this important tourism infrastructure.

“It is probably unfair on snails to say they get things done at snails’ pace. It’s not an indictment on local workers on the ground, it’s the upper echelons, but they are frozen in bureaucratic approvals and infected with a serious attitude of non-urgency,” he said.

“On the issue of timber workers more specifically, Mr Bull said this was meant to be all put to bed by Christmas, and now we hear an announcement is pending to wind up VicForests in a few months’ time, but the reality is more workers remain in limbo.

“Packages have been set to a budget rather than a fair outcome, down the line businesses that were promised support remain in limbo, and the government continues to haggle with mills over exit packages.

“Their families have not been treated courteously or fairly.

“An example of the contempt is the person who is handling the exit strategy went on holidays for much of February with an out-of-office reply saying their emails would not be monitored while they were away – all while families seek a fair outcome that they are not being offered.”

Caption: State Nationals MP, Tim Bull, pictured in front of the flailing Cape Conran Cabin project, again, called for urgency for bushfire recovery projects and a fair deal for timber workers after the recent industry closure.

Monday, 4 March 2024