The Tasmanian Forest Contracting Association, representatives of approximately 80% of forest contractors, welcomes the recent announcements by the State Government to review the Forestry Fair Contracts Code Advisory Note and examine relevant Victorian legislation.

 

“TFCA has been arguing for some time that the mix of contract conditions as well as the Global Financial Crisis and the changing forest resource have all contributed to a destabilised forest contracting sector”, said Mr Ferdie Kroon, TFCA’s CEO.

 

“The State Government has not only heard our calls, but it has readily responded to the submissions from individual contractors and even finance representatives”, said Mr Kroon.

 

The bi-partisan support for these reviews is also encouraging and this clearly demonstrates the continuing importance of the forest industry to the Tasmanian economy.

 

“The declining equity status and credit issues coupled to the ever present requirement for structural adjustment are all matters which could be potentially addressed by the outcomes of these review processes”, said Mr Kroon.

 

Contractors, their communities and the businesses that rely on them, also hope that the outcomes of these reviews will go a long way towards creating a better investment environment for contractors and a stronger sector for the industry to rely on. 

 

“Such an environment may also lead to new and exciting employment opportunities for many young Tasmanians, which in turn starts to address the sector’s ageing workforce problem and encourages more Tasmanians to remain and work in this State”, said Mr Kroon.

 

 

ENDS

 

 

Contact:          Ferdie Kroon, Chief Executive Officer, 0417 520 591

 

 

19 August 2009

Tagged as: fair contracts code