Minister Sukkar:
Today I want to speak about a couple of things. Firstly, about an important announcement that the Morrison Government has made in relation to timber supplies for, predominately, the residential construction industry. Also I will briefly make some remarks in relation to the shutdown of the building and construction industry here in Victoria and obviously some of the protests that are happening as we speak.
Today the Morrison Government announced a $15.1 million commitment to ensure that we’re able to get 300,000 cubic metres of softwood from Kangaroo Island – this is bushfire effected softwood that would otherwise go to waste – to subsidise the transportation of that wood from Kangaroo Island to timber mills throughout South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. We estimate – in conjunction with the Master Builders Association, the Housing Industry Association and the Australian Forest Products Association – that this 300,000 cubic metres of timber – which would otherwise rot on Kangaroo Island – will now deliver 8,000 to 10,000 new homes. We’ve seen as a result of the HomeBuilder program and state‑based stimulus programs, that residential construction is at levels 30 to 40 per cent higher than pre‑pandemic. What that has done is put pressure on supply chains. Thankfully it’s meant that our building and construction industry and the 1 million workers who rely on residential construction, have remained busy and employed and indeed even busier than they were pre‑pandemic but it has put pressure on timber supplies. We see this as a great opportunity to ensure that 300,000 cubic metres of softwood doesn’t just rot and go to waste on Kangaroo Island, it actually gets used. In particularly, the $15.1 million being put in place by the Morrison Government will see us fund the transportation of that timber from Kangaroo Island to the Port of Adelaide. We will then put in place a subsidy, a 10 cent per kilometre, per tonne subsidy for the transportation of that wood from the Port of Adelaide to timber mills around Australia that have capacity. We know, particularly in bushfire effected areas, there are timber mills who need this timber and by putting in place this additional support, we’ll get that timber to the mills and that will result in an additional 8,000 to 10,000 additional homes being built.
In relation to the second matter I think is important to mention today is obviously the shutdown of the building and construction industry here in Victoria. I must say, having seen the announcement just before 10 pm late last night, I was very concerned for the 320,000 Victorians who work in the building and construction industry in this state. It represents more than 9 per cent of workers in Victoria who will see their ability to work over the next two weeks removed, seemingly as a result of the disgusting and violent actions of CFMEU members and protesters yesterday. In my view, we shouldn’t be punishing the 320,000 law abiding workers in the building and construction industry as retaliation for the terrible conduct of some CFMEU members yesterday at the protests. Our strong position is that those who are flouting the rules, those who are breaking the rules should be dealt with but those law abiding Victorians who rely on the industry should not be punished. It’s not just the 320,000 workers in the industry – many of whom literally live pay packet to pay packet, it’s not just them who are impacted – it’s every single one of their customers. There’s countless examples of people who are in temporary accommodation while their home is being renovated who are now scrambling to try and extend that accommodation and in some cases, unsure where they’re going to be able to get that accommodation because their homes are now inhabitable and they’re unable to move home. There are countless examples of first homebuyers who are waiting on that key from their builder to get into their first home who are now not going to be able to and there’s a huge disruption for them. Of course, it must be said that by punishing those 320,000 workers as a result of a protest in Carlton yesterday, we’ll see tradies hundreds of kilometres from here in Geelong and Ballarat and in all parts of Melbourne and our state, who are now unable to work because of really disgusting conduct by a group of CFMEU members yesterday. We don’t think that that’s an appropriate or proportionate response.
Journalist:
The Government says that one of the reasons, it’s not just the protests that have shut down the industry, it’s because there’s been such low compliance on building sites particularly after their checks last week and they’re saying that compliance was lucky to get to 50 per cent. Is that a concern that, given they’ve been given leniency to operate for so long while other industries were shut down, is that concerning that compliance is so low?
Minister Sukkar:
Well clearly, any business that is operating in this environment has to comply. Again, my strong view is that where building sites are not complying they should be dealt with appropriately but we don’t punish the many for the sins of the few. That’s really what sadly appears to be happening although I’m keen to hear an explanation from the State Government. I don’t think in the press conference I just saw that it was very clear whether that decision was made before or after these protests. I think it seems as though it was clearly a very rushed decision that was announced at 10 pm last night that means that tradie friends of mine who get up at 5 am in the morning would have been in bed when that announcement was made so the first they would have known about it was when they woke up. So it seemed to be a fairly chaotic decision making process but clearly any workplace operating at present needs to be complying with the rules but again, we should never – and the State Government should never – punish the many for the sins of the few.
Journalist:
Given that there’s been quite a lot of cases ceded from construction sites, does the Federal Government support mandatory vaccines for constriction?
Minister Sukkar:
Our view is very clearly, that this is not a compulsory vaccination program. We’re running a voluntary vaccination program, that’s the Government’s position, that’s my position. Where a state government choses to put in place a mandatory process, I would point them to the example where the Federal Government put in place a process for aged care workers in federal facilities. That was a three month process, workers were given ample opportunity to avail themselves of that opportunity and now we’ve got vaccination rates in aged care facilities of greater than 97 per cent. I think the State Government has conceded that they got that wrong, that the timeframe that they put in place was very unreasonable. When they take those decisions, they need to do it in a way that gives people an opportunity to avail themselves of that vaccine.
Journalist:
But are you concerned that construction sites have been a high risk setting if you like?
Minister Sukkar:
I think over the entire period of this pandemic it’s been remarked on many occasions that construction sites have actually been great examples of how to manage a COVID risk. Really great examples with obviously lower density, smaller workforces operating at sometimes 25, 50 or 75 per cent. So I think in totality we’ve seen construction sites have been able to really manage the risk and that’s why I think it’s been very laudable of the State Government here in Victoria, that they’ve allowed building and construction to continue for this entire time which is why it was such a shock when in response to protests from CFMEU members yesterday, that we had a very rushed and seemingly chaotic announcement at 10 pm last night. Again this punishes carpenters and bricklayers and other tradies who work hundreds of kilometres from the Melbourne CBD where this protest was. So again, punishing a really large group of law abiding citizens I don’t think is fair. Punish the people who have broken the rules, punish those who are irresponsibly engaging in violent protests but don’t punish the law abiding workers in the building and construction industry.
Journalist:
Are you concerned that some of these protests do involve freak elements and a few extremists? Not all but some are violent extremists that have taken over?
Minister Sukkar:
I don’t like any of these protests. I mean I’m a very proud Victorian and I am very dismayed when I see these protests. I sometimes feel dismayed as to where these sorts of actions and activities come from because it’s not something we’ve seen in Victoria before. Clearly from the Black Lives Matter protest that occurred very early on in the pandemic, to a series of protests that have occurred since then throughout the pandemic, I’ve condemned them. I think it always is the case that we see fringe elements who hitch their wagon to these sorts of protests because they revel in that sort of chaotic atmosphere.
Journalist:
Just on your announcement, when will that timber be available for builders?
Minister Sukkar:
We’re now working with officials – particular in South Australia, particularly with Kangaroo Island – to get that timber going as soon as possible. We’re hoping in a matter of weeks. Some arrangements will need to be in place with the timber processors but discussions that we have had and considerable consultation that we’ve done with timber mills and timber processors in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, shows that they’re pretty close to being ready to accept this wood. You’ve got to remember, in some of the bushfire effected areas, timber mills that are operating on one shift at the moment – say a third of capacity – they could ramp up to three shifts but they’re going to need to source the workforce in order to do that. So they will need a little bit of time to ramp their operations up to be ready to accept that wood but I’d expect it to be a matter of weeks.
Journalist:
Great, thanks.