$108 million awarded to wood processing businesses

Federal assistance has been awarded to 34 timber manufacturers under the Accelerate Adoption of Wood Processing Innovation grants program, supporting projects including for activated carbon production, packaging, and construction materials.

Grants are between $1 million to $5 million, distributed from 2022-23 to 2025-26, and support up to 40 per cent of total project costs.  A total of $108 million was awarded. (A list of recipients is reproduced below.)

MP for Lyons Brian Mitchell said the program would stimulate investment in manufacturing lines and innovation, helping diversify domestic products, and would “enhance the forestry industry’s ability to supply more of Australia’s wood demands into the future.

Announcing recipients on Thursday at Launceston, federal forestry minister Murray Watt said that the industry was important “for communities around the country, but particularly here in Tasmania,” and that the grants “are about creating more long-term jobs” within it.

“A total of 34 grants will be made, selected by an independent panel, including funding for 4 projects involving First Nations organisations, enabling the use of sustainably sourced timber from traditional lands.”

Value-add in agriculture, forestry and fisheries is one of the seven priority sectors identified for the federal government’s National Reconstruction Fund.

Picture: credit www.subtropicalfarmforestryassociation.com