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23 Aug 2005 Matters of Public Interest 2569 Timber Industry Mr HOBBS (Warrego—NPA) (11.59 am): It is clear that Queenslanders are becoming fed up with the Premier’s political spin. Queenslanders do not want lies; they want substance and action. I refer to the Premier’s Queensland Greats. He recognised Dr Aila Keto as a Queensland Great due to her contribution to the closure of the timber industry and the locking up of vast areas of land which included 1.25 million hectares in the South-East Queensland Forest Agreement and, more recently, her involvement in locking up a further one million hectares of the western hardwood region. Significant areas were locked up, without any credible scientific basis, on the recommendations of Dr Keto. In fact, the federal government would not recognise the South-East Queensland Regional Forest Agreement and funding was withheld due to the unethical method of assessment. Now it is proposed that a further one million hectares of western hardwood be locked up. This includes cypress pine areas, even though the cypress pine review has not yet commenced. In the past there has been a cypress pine review which found that that area has been quite significant and very sustainable. My statement today is not a reflection against Dr Keto, who is a committed conservationist, but against the Premier, who chose to downgrade the Queensland Greats by claiming false environmental credits. I recently visited Tasmania and inspected some of their forest practices. They have proved beyond doubt that clear felling in some old growth silviculture is generally the best option. ‘Clear fell’ is defined as ‘the removal of all trees on a harvesting coupe in a single operation’. I have here pictures that show what actually happens when a coupe is harvested. The picture at the bottom shows the same view 14 years later—an absolutely magnificent stand. There is no doubt that the first picture looks devastating, but the reality is that it does come back. We have very much a renewable resource in our timber industry. Mr Shine: Who wrote this? Mr HOBBS: This is from the Tasmanian government. Mr Shine: No, your speech. Mr HOBBS: The member is hearing it direct—straight from me. This can also apply to other, faster growing forests. Work was done on other methods, such as aggregation, retention and single tree selection, as well as dispersed retention. The forest industry is worth about $1.1 billion to Tasmania’s economy. It employs 8,300 Tasmanians directly and many more in support industries. The Queensland government does not rate the forest industry as a significant industry. I do not know why it does not rate it as a significant industry, because it is. It seems that all this government wants to do is keep closing it down. We saw what happened with the south-east Queensland RFA and we are seeing it again in relation to the western hardwoods. Let us look at the western hardwoods. This review has recommended that 25 per cent of wood be taken away from millers and a million hectares be locked up. When the government was asked at one stage where this one million hectares would be, it said that the conservationists had not told it yet. The Beattie government is only interested in trying to get green votes and to hell with everyone else. This is a further reason to question the Queensland Greats award given for destroying our forest industry. The minister recently announced that Queensland Forestry had received world accreditation for sustainable management. One wonders why on earth we suddenly have to protect it even more. I do not doubt that we can always do a bit more to improve our management of anything, but this has received accreditation, and so it should. Our forests have been managed well over many years. But locking them up will not necessarily be best for the environment, the forest, the forest workers or even the Queensland economy. Australia is now a net importer of wood, yet we have this renewable resource that keeps on growing all the time. It has been well managed and we can continue to do that. Why on earth would we want to bring in timber from unsustainable forests overseas? Timber is coming in from Indonesia, South America, as well as other places. What we are seeing here is extraordinary. We are locking up our forests and we are dragging in timber from other areas. Time expired. Death of Mr RJ Briskey AM Mr BRISKEY (Cleveland—ALP) (12.04 pm): My father, Bob Briskey, passed away on 18 July. He was born on 25 December 1929 at Roma, the son of William Briskey and Elsie, nee Logan. He had eight siblings, three older and five younger, and he often joked that being born on Christmas Day was not much good as all his brothers and sisters received both a birthday and a Christmas present and he received only one present a year. Growing up as one of nine children during the Great Depression and the Second World War was very difficult and, to make matters worse, his mother died when he was only 17. Like many of his era, Bob finished school at a young age. As a youth, Bob took up boxing and played League for the Cities Football Club in Roma. Bob also played cornet in the Roma Brass Band and often said that his grandchildren’s musical abilities were as a result of his good genes. He worked
2570 Matters of Public Interest 23 Aug 2005 for a short time in the local garage before becoming a telegram boy. In 1950 he went to Brisbane and attended the Postmaster-General’s linesman training school. He became a member of the Tallebudgera Surf Lifesaving Club and would travel to the coast on the weekends. It was in 1951 on one of these trips to the coast that he met Beverley Phillips, the only daughter of Jim and Muriel. Upon completion of his training, Bob returned to Roma and the romance blossomed. Bob married the love of his life on 8 August 1953. Bob and Bev would have been married for 52 years on 8 August which is an amazing and wonderful achievement. After their marriage Bob and Bev went to Gayndah for a short time where Bob was employed as a linesman before returning to live in Roma. In 1954 a daughter, Karen, was born and I was born in 1955, 50 years ago tomorrow. In 1957 Bob built their first home in Wyndam Street, Roma. Bob sought promotion within the PMG and studied to become qualified as a technical officer which meant a transfer to Brisbane. The family rented a property in Kangaroo Point while their new home was built in Gloriana Street, Morningside. In 1965, soon after their third child, Anne-Maree, was born, Bob was sent to New Guinea where he spent nine weeks, mostly in rugged, mountainous regions. Not long after, he took a job as an instructor at the linesman training school at Chermside. After some years at the school he applied for and was promoted to another position within the PMG. It was in this new position that he came to the attention of Frank Waters, the state secretary of the Amalgamated Postal Workers Union of Australia, later to become the Australian Postal and Telecommunications Union, APTU. Frank was impressed with this young man and asked him to come into the union office and see if he liked the job. In November 1972 Bob was elected onto the state executive of the union and, upon Frank Waters’s retirement, was appointed as acting state secretary of the union. On 20 February 1973 he was appointed as state secretary and remained in that position until he retired in 1987. He was also elected as assistant general secretary from 1975 to 1984 and as general president from 1985 to 1987. These latter positions meant that he spent a lot of time in Melbourne. The then general secretary, George Slater, asked Bob to move to Melbourne and take over as general secretary; however, this was not to be because Bev did not want to leave her grandchildren. After his retirement from the union Bob worked for Australia Post, when required, as chairman, board of reference. In 1968 Bob had opened savings accounts for each member of the family in a little-known credit union called the Queensland Postal Cooperative. This small credit union was later to become Credit Union Australia, which is now one of Australia’s largest credit unions. Bob became a director of Credit Union Australia in 1982 and in 1987 became chairman of the board until his retirement in 2001. Bob was a key figure in Credit Union Australia’s growth and development over the years. He was instrumental in securing the merger with the CPS Credit Society in 1997 which at the time was the largest merger to have been undertaken in Australian credit union history. In recognition of Bob’s work with the union movement he was awarded an Order of Australia Medal on 26 January 1989. Bob was diagnosed with cancer in December 2003, and the last few months were difficult as it became much harder for him to breathe. During this period there was not a lot that he could do except to watch sport on TV—especially Rugby League—play cards and occasionally go out. Without a doubt, Bob’s favourite place to visit was the Treasury Casino, where he could play the pokies and spend his children’s inheritance. On Monday, 18 July 2005, Bob, while playing a machine, collapsed and, after attempts were made to revive him, died. He is survived by his wife, Bev, three children and seven grandchildren. A large number of mourners attended his funeral at Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Cleveland on 25 July 2005. I take this opportunity to thank all honourable members who came along to that funeral and also all honourable members who have said so many wonderful things to me and my family on the passing of my father. Maryborough Base Hospital Mr CHRIS FOLEY (Maryborough—Ind) (12.09 pm): History helps retain pride in our achievements and Maryborough Base Hospital has a proud history. Maryborough Base Hospital was opened by Sir Samuel Griffith, the then Premier of Queensland, in April 1885. Under the act of 1925 the government took over responsibility for the hospital and the first Maryborough hospital board was appointed. There have been many hardworking people through the years who have dedicated their lives to patient care at this fine establishment. Two Maryborough Base Hospital nurses, nurses Bauer and Wiles, are hailed as saving the nation from the plague and gave their lives in the course of duty. It is no wonder that the citizens of Maryborough fiercely defend what has come at such a great price. Subsequent to the building of Hervey Bay’s new hospital, the Beattie government funded a $17 million redevelopment of Maryborough’s mental health unit and the central block. Most people would remember the distress and anger shown by Maryborough residents during that time as they saw services being surreptitiously eroded. The public rally and the meeting in the city hall was a genuine
Page 1 and 2: PROOF ISSN 1322-0330 WEEKLY HANSARD
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents — Tuesday, 23 A
Page 5 and 6: 2536 Papers 23 Aug 2005 PAPERS PAPE
Page 7 and 8: 2538 Ministerial Statement 23 Aug 2
Page 19 and 20: 2550 Scrutiny of Legislation Commit
Page 21 and 22: 2552 Private Members’ Statements
Page 23 and 24: 2554 Questions Without Notice 23 Au
Page 33 and 34: 2564 Members’ Ethics and Parliame
Page 35 and 36: 2566 Matters of Public Interest 23
Page 37: 2568 Matters of Public Interest 23
Page 45 and 46: 2576 Constitutional and Other Legis
Page 47 and 48: 2578 Transport Legislation Amendmen
Page 49 and 50: 2580 Transport Legislation Amendmen
Page 51 and 52: 2582 Housing Legislation Amendment
Page 53 and 54: 2584 Education (Queensland College
Page 55 and 56: 2586 Succession Amendment Bill 23 A
Page 57 and 58: 2588 Succession Amendment Bill 23 A
Page 59 and 60: 2590 Queensland Competition Authori
Page 69 and 70: 2600 Racing Venues Development Amen
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2620 Plumbing and Drainage and Othe
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2630 Child Safety Legislation Amend
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2642 Adjournment 23 Aug 2005 One pa
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2644 Adjournment 23 Aug 2005 years.
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2646 Adjournment 23 Aug 2005 Finall
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weekly hansard - Queensland Parliament - Queensland Government

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