Maroc - TIMBERBIZ.COM.AU - A La Une - 10/Dec 23:23

Victorian fire preparation ignored, and contractors shunned

Local contractors in Eastern Victoria who undertake important pre-summer fire preparation work have been shunned by the Labor State Government. Source: Timberbiz The panel of workers undertakes such tasks as vegetation clearing, hazardous tree removal, and maintaining fire tracks, but this year have not been engaged to anywhere near the level of past years and in some cases, not at all. Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, said that apart from leaving us more vulnerable to the upcoming fire season, these families rely on this income and have now been left struggling after regular work volumes have failed to materialise. “There was concern that the timber industry harvest and haulage contractors who were employed by the government would push the contractor panel out of work, but the government emphatically stated several months ago it had a separate funding pool and contractors would receive ‘similar volumes of forest and fire management works’,” said Mr Bull “However, that simply hasn’t occurred. Some who have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts for major works over recent years, have simply not been engaged as their machines sits idle. “Several have raised with my office their alarm about the significant discrepancy between DEECA’s promises and the actual allocation of work. “Many are too scared to speak out as they know how vindictive this government can be. “Not only has this government shut down our timber industry, but they are now forcing these contractors out of work, at the same time our fire access tracks are overgrown and there is so much pre-fire season work to be done. “I suspect this is simply yet another case of Labor running out of money and making cutbacks to country services we rely on, to service their debt, which is headed to $187 billion by 2026 with interest repayments of $26 million per day. “I have asked Minister Dimopoulos in parliament several questions around the allocation of work compared to previous years and I look forward to his responses,” said Mr Bull.