STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr HOGAN (Page—Deputy Manager of Opposition Business and Deputy Leader of the National Party) (13:56): Since we last sat in this chamber, New South Wales Labor have gutted another regional industry. The industry they've gutted this time—and that they've all but wiped out—is the forestry industry. Thousands of jobs have been lost.

Timber mill workers have lost their jobs—forestry workers, people who drive trucks, haulage workers who are supported by that industry. Again Labor is selling out blue-collar jobs for Greens preferences. The worst thing, for the thousands of people who are going to lose their jobs, is that the announcement was made on Father's Day.

On Father's Day, thousands of men found out they were going to lose their jobs. This is a sustainable and renewable industry. And do you know what?

Now we will be importing hardwood from countries that do not do it in the sustainable and environmentally friendly way we do. The other thing is that the locked-up areas will now become weed infested and feral-animal infested. In fact, koalas will leave because those areas will be too weed infested.

They will become tinderboxes, putting our communities in danger. The elite city MPs over there have demonised our forestry industry. They've demonised our farmers for the water they want for growing food and fibre.

They've demonised our sheep farmers for live exports. They've demonised our coal miners and our gas industry workers. Their hypocrisy and sanctimony is very obvious over there.

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