The Government is allocating $100 million to help redeploy workers, including those hardest hit in the forestry industry, throughout the Gisborne-Tairāwhiti region.
Economic development minister Phil Twyford says East Coast forestry workers have suffered greatly as a result of the coronavirus impacts. The sector itself accounts for 6.7% of regional GDP.
He says the Government is moving quickly to help these people stay in work and the funding package will go towards other means of employment over the next six months.
Of the funding, $28m will support around 300 people in the Gisborne region as they are redeployed.
“Forestry was one of the first industries to be seriously impacted by Covid-19 but by keeping the infrastructure and workforce of the sector intact, we hope it will be one of the first to recover,” Twyford says.
Alternative employment for the forestry workers includes local roading and maintenance, hazardous tree removal, fast-tracked One Billion Trees projects, and conservation activities.
The package will be administered through the Provincial Development Unit in partnership with the Mayors’ Forum and Gisborne District Council.
Affected workers will be referred via the Ministry of Social Development’s Rapid Response Team and affected businesses.
Forestry and regional economic development minister Shane Jones says it’s welcome relief for the forestry sector which was only just recovering from last year’s crash in log prices.
“Many small firms used their cash reserves to get them through that and some companies are now struggling to survive.
“However, the future for the forestry sector is extremely bright and we want to ensure it is in a position to recover from the economic impacts of Covid-19 as quickly as possible.
“By redeploying workers to short-term projects, we can help ensure they are available to go back to the forestry sector once it returns to normal,” Jones says.
Eastland Wood Council chief executive Kim Holland says it’s a “fantastic” response from the Government and the package has already saved a number of jobs.
“The Government is being really responsive to what the region has asked for with redeployment options for people to stay in the region an utilise their skills and experience in other sectors such as roading.
“So I think that’s really positive stuff, I’m sure there will be contractors pretty happy with it.”
Holland says logs are starting to move from the port again although exports are still down around 30% from the year prior.
“The forestry industry has been dealing with this for nearly two months now, we’ve been doing it hard for a while, but the key thing for us is pulling together and working together for whanau.
“It’s a changing environment, it’s not just about jobs but people’s health as the impact of this virus starts to hit home,” Holland says.
