Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Once again the north-west coast of Tasmania has shown its strength in the sector of advanced manufacturing and innovation. Last Friday I was very proud to officially launch the SFM Environmental Solutions Hydrowood project at MONA in Hobart. This project, which received a $5 million grant from the federal government, is delving into the deep waters of the West Coast's Lake Pieman to rescue forgotten treasures of speciality timbers like myrtle, blackwood, blackheart sassafras and celery-top pine. The SFM team have worked so hard to design and build the harvest and log barges through Tasmanian shipbuilders, and the purpose-built telescopic arm which harvests the logs from up to 20 metres under the water. Before the official launch, I visited Lake Pieman for a sneak peek at on-water operations that I can talk about. It was a stunning sight, seeing once-forgotten logs pulled out from under water to be given new life. Coming out of the water like the salmon of Macquarie Harbour were logs that without this project may have stayed 20 to 30 metres under water and been lost forever. The highly valued timbers will be processed into quality products to be sold into lucrative markets around the world. Showcasing local skills, products and resources, SFM is using local people to make the Hydrowood project happen. A local timber mill is employing new apprentices—full-time truck drivers. There are value-adding, wholesaling and retailing jobs resulting from sending these timbers all over the world. I congratulate Andrew Morgan, David Wise, Darren Crook and their team for the official launch of this magnificent project.