The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) welcomes today's Albanese Government announcement of a review into Australia's gas market regulations to ensure 'they're fit for purpose and deliver in the national interest', as timber and wood-fibre processors and manufacturers continue to battle high energy and other input costs, Chief Executive Officer of AFPA, Diana Hallam said today.
"The rising cost of gas and electricity is a major risk to our processing and manufacturing supply chain with several major businesses on the brink as a result. We welcome this gas market review announced by Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Resources Minister Madeleine King and encourage it to work towards sufficient and more affordable gas supply going forward," Diana Hallam said.
The gas market review will examine the impact of:
- The Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM)
- The Gas Market Code
- Heads of Agreement with major east coast gas exporters
The review will also consider the role of market bodies and investment that aims to boost supply and put downward pressure on prices.
"Australian forestry and forest products businesses are the nation's 6th largest manufacturing sector and affordable gas and electricity is essential to make production trees into the range of sustainable and renewable everyday products we create - from timber house-frames to cardboard boxes," Diana Hallam said.
"In addition to energy, logistics and insurance costs are also rising - meaning some businesses are being forced to consider whether they continue manufacturing at all. Over the first term of the Albanese Government energy costs for a number of our members more than doubled - further increases of this magnitude are simply not sustainable.
"Our sector is responsible for injecting $24 billion into the economy annually. We directly employ 80,000 people and indirectly employ another 100,000 on top. Many of these jobs are the lifeblood of regional centres. It's vital to maintain the scale and integration of our sector – if the cost of one element in the supply chain becomes too difficult it will have a huge ripple impact across the rest of the sector.
"The Albanese Government must support manufacturing, and the gas market review is a good step to examine the impact of what is a major input cost, placing considerable pressure on our industry," Diana Hallam concluded.
