SOFTWOOD
PLANTATIONS
334. Hon STEVE MARTIN to the minister representing the
Minister for Forestry:
I refer to the Minister
for Forestry's announcement to spend $350 million over 10 years to
expand Western Australia's pine plantation.
(1) What is the establishment cost per hectare used in the
budget figure?
(2) What is the purchase price per hectare used in the budget
figure?
(3) What
assumptions does the budget make about the rise in the purchase price of land
over the 10-year life of the purchase program?
(4) With the
current rapid escalation in land prices, does the minister expect that the $350
million will achieve a plantation program of at least 33 000 hectares?
(5) If not,
how many hectares will be achieved?
Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN
replied:
I thank the member for the question. The Minister for
Forestry has provided the following information.
(1)–(3)
The $350 million investment over 10 years
does not require a specific quantity of plantation to be established each
year. This allows the Forest Products Commission the flexibility to make
commercial decisions to buy, or not, in any given year.
(4)–(5)
The purchase of land is not the only
mechanism for plantation establishment. The Forest Products Commission
can also enter into sharefarming arrangements as well as co�investment with
industry.