Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to inform the House of an exciting project being undertaken by an outstanding timber processing business: Timberlink. Timberlink employs 567 staff operating across three mills—Bell Bay in Tasmania, Blenheim in New Zealand and Tarpeena in my electorate of Barker. Like much of the forestry and forest products sector, the business has an exciting future. Since Timberlink was established in 2013, the business has invested $157 million in the facilities, which is a great thing for the local regions in which it operates and a great sign of confidence. In fact, Timberlink recently announced a $90 million expansion to the mill at Tarpeena. Now Timberlink has announced its intention to build a state-of-the-art cross-laminated timber, CLT, and glue-laminated timber, GLT, plant in Australia, either at Tarpeena, near the existing mill, or west of Melbourne.

CLT and GLT are really exciting products providing a commercially viable, carbon-friendly alternative to steel and concrete in the construction of mid-rise buildings. We speak often in this place about the need to operate in an increasingly carbon-constrained world and this product is an example of how innovative products will help us get there. CLT and GLT have the unique ability to reduce emissions by using less steel and concrete and by storing carbon. A timber framed house stores approximately 7.5 tonnes of carbon while a steel framed house emits 2.9 tonnes of carbon. With CLT and GLT providing an excellent strength-to-weight ratio and being increasingly cost-competitive, it's no wonder it's a building material in demand.

The proposed Timberlink plant will be the first CLT-GLT facility in Australia. It will create 150 jobs during construction and 50 ongoing jobs. The Green Triangle has the workforce and I want to see this facility built in Tarpeena, securing those jobs for South Australia. Timberlink has approached the state governments of South Australia and Victoria seeking financial support to help make the project a reality. The South Australian government has established a regional growth fund to unlock new economic activity in our regions, delivering critical economic infrastructure to create direct benefits across regional industries and strengthen regional communities. This project would do just that. Ten million dollars has been allocated to this fund for the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development to commit to strategic regional growth projects. This is a great project and I hope it's being given the consideration it deserves by the minister to support our forestry and forest products sector and jobs in our regions.

The Herd of Hope is an Australian charity which focuses on supporting organ recipients and donor families in regional and rural Australia. The organisation was founded in 2017 by organ recipient Megan McLoughlin, who I'm very proud to say is a resident of the Barossa, in my electorate of Barker. Since its establishment, the charity has spread the message of hope for organ donation through events all around Australia, including the Bondi Beach Cattle Drive, where a herd of Australian Poll Hereford cattle was mustered onto the sands of Bondi Beach to raise national awareness about organ and tissue donation and to support regional transplant services. As a child, Megan was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. Later she become legally blind and was diagnosed with acute renal failure, being given three weeks to live in 2010, until a transplant saved her life.

Megan is an inspirational woman. No adversity seems too big or too hard to overcome. Despite her own battles, Megan is making a difference for others and continues to focus her energy on improving the lives of others. As well as being a mother of two—and I should note that she's only one of 64 women in the world to deliver two children post double transplant—Megan has dedicated her life to supporting donor families and guiding organ recipients through the difficult process. It's no wonder that, in November 2018, Megan McLoughlin received the SA Local Hero award in the Australian of the Year awards.

I caught up with Meg an this week in parliament at the launch of Parliamentary Friends o f Organ Donation. Megan is a truly inspirational member of our local community in Barker who is making a big difference nationally. Megan continues to inspire me, and s he continues to inspire the community with a positive message of hope . For this , I commend Me g an and everyone involved with He rd of Hope , and I remind people to have the conversation about organ and ti ssue donation . Do it for Meg an.