Another Silly Suggestion.

Heyfield mill doesn't have to close, and the operation using a reduced amount of timber to produce their product will give the same percentage of profit per cubic metre but it won't be as much profit in total, because there will be less cubic metres processed. The mill owners want to get as much profit as they can, so they use the leverage of their workers and their families. Other timber mills have closed down all over the state, and once the dust settles, the people who thought they would never find work, did. It will be no different in this instance.

That's what makes Barnaby Joyce's proposal all the more ridiculous. To destroy forest long protected just to maintain jobs in the short term, is madness. The forests that belong to all Victorians and Australians, and those who live and find food in them, should be preserved for future generations. We have to get our priorities right, we have the chance to make a difference, a difference that will benefit everyone by reducing the amount of timber that is being ripped from the forested areas.

Barnaby Joyce's proposal makes it clear that there is nothing he won't do to get his name in the papers, loves grandstanding, even with silly ideas. He has no idea of the importance of wildlife or how to maintain a sustainable hardwood timber industry, just to mention a few that pertain to this issue. He is all about agriculture which slashed and burned its way through the Australian landscape when there was plenty of timber to be milled, but was cut down, windowed and burned with no benefit. Degrading the land upon which the forest once stood, and losing all the nutrient to leeching into waterways and ending up in the sea.

Some Truths.

It is a cynical exploitation of employees being perpetrated by the Heyfield timber mill management. By telling their employees they are going to close if the government doesn't give them the amount of timber allocation they want. They have incited their employees and their families to protest on the steps of parliament.

The hope of the Heyfield mill management is that the pressure of many people will crush the governments resolve to protect their industry long term, for the next generation by keeping it sustainable. Or conversely, have the Victorian Government give them a grant that will make the management even more wealthy. Because they are not going to take any path that will help their workers, they will be considered collateral damage after all.

Shame Heyfield timber mill management. The percentage of profit will be the same no matter what amount of the Victorian/Australian peoples resource is allocated for milling. It will just be less overall because there will be less timber milled. The mill just runs less timber through less working machines. Yes some jobs are lost, but there are many Victorian towns that have lost their timber mill, and some who have lost two.

It's not about the Leadbeater Possum. Though it should be. It's about ensuring a sustainable timber industry for the children of those who want to continue in that industry. Sad if mill workers can't see any of this.