Up to 60,000 tonnes of bushfire-affected softwood logs will start to be shipped off Kangaroo Island to support South Australia’s forestry sector and the country’s booming housing construction industry, with applications to the Construction Softwood Transport Assistance Program (CSTAP) now open.
The CSTAP is jointly funded by the Australian and South Australian governments and provides assistance to freight bushfire-affected softwood logs salvaged from Kangaroo Island to the South Australian mainland and then to sawmills with immediate capacity to process structural timber.
Federal Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries Jonno Duniam said timber made available thanks to the CSTAP could provide enough timber to build between 8,000 and 10,000 new houses across the country, supporting jobs in the timber and home building industries.
“Australia’s construction industry is booming and the Morrison Government is doing everything it can to help support the supply of structural timber,” Assistant Minister Duniam said.
“I am pleased we have been able to reach an agreement with the South Australian Government to start getting fire-damaged timber off of Kangaroo Island and into the market where it’s needed most. Without this assistance, salvageable logs might be burned or left to rot, putting jobs at risk and possibly releasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere,” he added.
South Australia’s Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development David Basham the Marshall Liberal Government had pledged up to $3 million to support getting more timber to market.
The Construction Softwood Transport Assistance Program is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and South Australian Governments with the following assistance available:
- funding will be made available for transport of bushfire-affected softwood logs suitable and intended for processing into structural timber;
- a total of $30 per tonne assistance for transport from Kangaroo Island to the South Australian mainland;
- a total assistance of 10 cents per tonne per kilometre travelled by road from first port of landing to sawmill, commencing after the first 200 road kilometres travelled.
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