The Allan Labor Government is fast tracking the establishment of timber plantations in Victoria, helping to boost local timber supply for construction and manufacturing and create more jobs. Minister for Agriculture Ros Spence announced on Monday 18 August $10 million as part of the Victorian Plantation Support Program - worth $190m - to establish new long-rotation timber plantations. This additional funding will be for projects approved under select rounds of the Commonwealth’s Support Plantation Establishment Program. Victorian growers looking to develop new plantations can receive up to $1000 per hectare under the program to assist with plantation establishment activities. Combined with the Commonwealth program, new plantations of 20 hectares or more in Victoria can receive up to $3000 per hectare, with a cap of up to $200,000 per project. This program is the single largest investment in plantation establishments in the state’s history and will see up to 16 million trees planted over a 10-year period.
