Prosser backflip betrays South-West timber towns

24/12/03
The Howard Government has betrayed South-West timber towns by refusing to deliver $15million in industry development assistance, offered prior to the last Federal election.
State Development Minister Clive Brown today said local MHR Geoff Prosser's refusal to back calls by both the timber industry and South-West timber communities for the funding to be delivered showed he had no influence in Canberra.
Mr Brown said recent assertions by Mr Prosser that the funding should not be delivered unless Western Australia increased logging to the unsustainable levels promoted in the last Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) were at odds with his previously reported position.
"On June 6 2001, Geoff Prosser was reported in The West Australian as acknowledging the State Government had withdrawn from the RFA, but criticising his own Government for not handing over the $15million in funding," the Minister said.
"Following the announcement of an additional $15million in State Government funding yesterday, Geoff Prosser was reported on ABC Radio as saying the Federal funding would not be made available until the State honoured the RFA and opened up more forest for logging.
"Clearly, Geoff Prosser has been overruled by the more influential members of the Howard Government over this funding and been forced into an embarrassing public backflip."
Mr Brown said the Howard Government's position was out of step with local community and industry sentiment.
"There is no doubt that the implementation of the Gallop Government's Protecting our Old Growth Forests Policy created transitional issues in the South-West," he said.
"However, when I was in Manjimup yesterday, I was pleased to see a positive community that is optimistically looking forward to a sustainable future.
"What Geoff Prosser and the Howard Government fail to understand is that a sustainable timber industry will not be developed by increasing timber yields to unsustainable levels - it will only be developed by installing new machinery to increase timber recovery and value adding, so that maximum value can be realised from our precious timber resources.
"The State Government has now committed $28.5million in industry development assistance to South-West communities, with most of this to be used to enhance the timber recovery and value adding capacity of the timber industry.
"You would think, given the vastly greater financial capacity of the Commonwealth Government, Geoff Prosser would have no problem convincing his colleagues that they should do the same.
"To date, they have not spent one cent."
Minister's Office - 9222 9699