Mr ANDREW: Platypus Timbers, Smith Sawmills, O’Brien’s Saw Mill, Nebo sawmills—what
option and what access do sawmillers have to any of the thousands of hectares of renewable timber
being cleared right now? What has this department done to give these mills, or any miller in
Queensland, access to take timber from the sites of renewable projects that are being cleared?
Mr FURNER: I thank the member for his question. I stand to be corrected but we engaged with
some of these stakeholders when in Mackay at one of our regional cabinet meetings. The state owned
resources supply up to 50 per cent of the Queensland timber processing sector’s annual native
hardwood requirements. About 95 per cent of that is annual native cypress requirements. DAF allocates
and sells most of the state owned native timber through long-term sale permits, issued under the
Forestry Act 1959. Most of these long-term permits authorised native timber harvesting in South-East
Queensland, the western hardwood region, the cypress region and South-West Queensland. DAF also
supplies timber for state owned native forests in Central Queensland.
Mr ANDREW: Point of order, Chair: I am specifically referring to the remnant vegetation on the
tops of mountains that are being cleared for renewable projects. Does this department repurpose the
timber that is being cleared here in Queensland from land used or cleared for renewable energy? Yes
or no, sir?
CHAIR: Just allow the minister to answer.
Mr FURNER: I thank the member for his question. I might refer to the director-general to handle
the specifics around that.
Mr Bolton: I thank the member for the question. To the best of my knowledge, there has not
been any large-scale clearing undertaken at this point in time. There is still a lot of planning that is
happening across government. Certainly the conversations I am having with my counterparts are
around that issue: how do we actually make use of any vegetation that is cleared? My department is
working with other parts of industry, including the mining sector, looking at how they do some of their
clearing and whether or not there are opportunities for the re-use of the timber that they clear, including with some of our First Nations timber producers.
Mr ANDREW: It just seems to be a double standard to lock up everything but to clear all of that
timber and to not even use it is absolutely ridiculous.
CHAIR: We will take that as commentary.