The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has today launched ‘Growing Your Future’, a Federal Election Campaign targeted at planting more timber production trees in the right places and securing the future of native forest industries, Chief Executive Officer of AFPA, Mr Ross Hampton said today.
“AFPA has developed ’10 Actions for Growth’; policy requests totalling more than $80 million, designed at securing the long-term needs of Australia’s forest industries across the full value chain,” Mr Hampton said.
The ’10 Actions for Growth’ and underpinning policy ‘asks’ can be found the campaign website: growingyourfuture.com.au here.
“This suite of policies is designed to unleash growth across forest industries, from the businesses that grow and manage trees, to the processors of timber, pulp and paper manufacturers and emerging businesses in the bioenergy space.
“Australia’s forest industries are responsible for 120,000 jobs across the full value chain, and are worth $24 billion to the Australian economy annually. It’s vital that politicians, candidates and political parties take notice of what our industries need. This applies especially to candidates in electorates where forest industries are prominent in the economy.
“AFPA has developed electorate briefs, providing a snapshot of industries in individual electorates across Australia. They can be found here on the Growing Your Future Website.
“We are launching this campaign in Tasmania today, because we recognise how vital forest industries are to Tasmanians and the state’s economy. A poll conducted earlier this week for AFPA, shows 8 in 10 voters in the electorate of Bass regard forest industries as either very important or important to the economy.
“However, the Growing Your Future campaign is a national one, with billboards, advertising and advocacy across the country. It will also include a forest industries debate, in Launceston on 1 May.
“I look forward to spending the next four and half weeks speaking to candidates, MPs and political parties, and convincing them to support our policies for growth,” Mr Hampton concluded.
