The Morrison Government’s plan for a stronger economy will secure the future of the Tasmanian forestry industry and the 5700 direct and indirect jobs it supports in regional Tasmania.

While the Liberals have committed $219.5 million to grow this industry, Labor and the Greens are only interested in shutting it down.

Greens Senator for Tasmania Peter Whish-Wilson has already pledged that “the Greens are likely to use any future balance of power situation in parliament to block this funding package.”

Assistant Minister for Forestry and Liberal Senator for Tasmania Jonno Duniam said the risk of Labor doing a deal with the Greens meant that only the Liberals could be trusted to invest and grow the industry to safeguard jobs.

“Unlike Labor and the Greens, we have a comprehensive plan to grow the industry and we will never support shutdowns of Tasmanian forestry,” Assistant Minister Duniam said.

As the Prime Minister said, “I will never ever do a deal with the Greens because we’re just not on the same page. We’re not even on the same planet as them when it comes to economic policy.”

Assistant Minister Duniam said that actions speak louder than words, and history shows that Labor do not support forestry workers.

“The Labor Party do not have a plan for forestry and have form in shutting the industry down,” Assistant Minister Duniam said.

“Who could forget the disastrous Labor-Greens deal that decimated 4300 forestry jobs.

“The Greens have already said that they will block our $219.5 million investment at the first opportunity, robbing Tasmania of millions of dollars in investment.

“And Tasmanians know that if you gamble on Labor, the Greens will always win.

“No matter what they say, you simply cannot trust Labor or the Greens with forestry jobs or the economy.

“In contrast, our commitment will help to turbocharge the Tasmanian forestry industry by investing in new wood processing technologies and innovative research and development.

“We want to grow this industry because we know it’s good for jobs and supports the lives and livelihoods of thousands of families across Tasmania.

“Our investments mean that instead of importing products from overseas or exporting raw product, we will be able to grow trees here, process more of them here and add value to that resource in Tasmania creating jobs and economic growth across our state.”