Glenn Fenton | GIA Response to Homebuilder Announcement
4 June 2020
Over the recent months, Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA) has diligently worked at a national level to sure-up the primary supply channels for greenlife.
Primary production nurseries are supported through GIA’s ongoing representation on the Hort Council and last month, promotion of independent garden centres was bolstered through the launch of the Plant Pals initiative.
This week, GIA has joined with Turf Australia and State Landscape Associations in NSW, VIC, WA, QLD and SA in an effort to influence the fourth stimulus package for home renovations.
The associations jointly wrote to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Housing Minister Michael Sukkar requesting landscape construction and greenspace installations be included in the package. You can read the letter here. Additionally, a media release was circulated to major national outlets yesterday highlighting the industries' collective value.
Today’s announcement of the HomeBuilder package does not specifically address the needs of our alliance of industries and GIA has already contacted Michael Sukkar’s office for clarification of the details.
A media response is currently being prepared to highlight the benefits of greenlife and outdoor spaces and some social tiles are being developed for Members to share, encouraging people not to forget their outdoor spaces and gardens.
The GIA Board sees the collaborative approach of the joint landscape, turf and greenlife organisations as an opportunity to represent the broader green industries federally. We are looking forward to working with the alliance as we represent this, and future issues to the Federal Government.
An overview of our activities will be provided in GIA News on 11 June. In the meantime, if you have any questions relating to the HomeBuilder scheme or our response to it, please email me at president@greenlifeindustry.com.au.
Sincerely
Glenn Fenton
President
Greenlife Industry Australia