FOREST PRODUCTS COMMISSION — SHAREFARMING
AGREEMENTS REVIEW
122. Hon DIANE EVERS to the minister representing the
Minister for Forestry:
I refer to the response to question without notice 110, asked
on 12 May 2021.
(1) Who is the
independent auditor conducting the audit, when will it be completed and will
the results be provided directly to sharefarmers shortly thereafter?
(2) How does
this audit differ from that done by William Buck in 2018, noting the response
to question on notice 2619 on 5 December 2019?
(3) How many
sharefarmer agreements and transactions were audited in 2018 and did this
include reviewing methodology and calculations against agreements?
(4) How many sharefarmer agreements and transactions will be
reviewed under the current audit?
(a) Will this
audit include a review of payment methodologies and amounts against the
original sharefarmer agreements; and, if not, why not?
(5) Noting the
response to question without notice 110, will agreements with other terms also
be audited; and, if not, why not?
(6) Will the
FPC rectify any payments found to be incorrect under the audit shortly after
completion; and, if not, why not?
Hon ALANNAH MacTIERNAN
replied:
I thank the member for the question.
The Minister for Forestry has provided the following answer.
(1) PricewaterhouseCoopers
is conducting the audit. The audit is scheduled for completion by the end of June 2021. Any issues identified in the audit will
be raised directly with the affected sharefarmers concerned.
(2)–(3) The
Forest Products Commission is unable to answer these questions within the time
frame given. The minister has undertaken to ensure that the information is
provided to the honourable member next week.
(4) There will be
82 softwood sharefarmer agreements, totalling 193 transactions between the
start of 2013 and the end of 2020.
(a) Payments are reviewed against the Forest Products
Commission sharefarmer payment methodology.
(5) Yes.
(6) The Forest Products Commission
will address any issues raised by the auditors.