I write today to urge you to support the Save My Trees initiative.

On 16 May 2009, Ferrier Hodgson were appointed Administrators of the Great Southern Group pursuant to Section 436A of the Corporations Act 2001.

Subsequently, on 18 May 2009 McGrathNicol were appointed Receivers and Managers of Great Southern Limited and certain subsidiaries of Great Southern by a Security Trustee on behalf of a group of secured creditors. Control of the business and assets of the Receivership companies now rests with the Receivers. This includes Great Southern Managers Australia Limited, the responsible entity for the various Managed Investment Schemes which the Great Southern Group promoted and managed.

Save My Trees is focused on a mission to ensure that stakeholders affected by recent Great Southern developments have a unified voice in dealing with the myriad of issues and seeking the best commercial outcomes for growers. Out of this focus, it is a specific objective to advance the interests of all related groups impacted by the collapse of Great Southern.

I urge you to work with your fellow MPs to ensure the Hon Chris Bowen MP is behind the case for government leadership on this important issue - a mandate to support a rescue plan and inject confidence back into the system for the investments taken on by the private sector over many years and encourage sustainable development of Australia's agricultural and timber industries.

Action taken from the Great Southern Creditors Committee shows that the current process is fundamentally flawed and may unnecessarily result in the winding up of Great Southern MIS projects and/or selling of assets.

Urgent action is needed to ensure the protection of this vital sector. What is at risk?

• the loss of over $3 billion in tax revenue that would otherwise be collected from investors on receipt of harvest proceeds, should projects be wound up
• the loss of up to $10 billion in future income owing to over 43,000 investors should projects be wound up before completion of their normal term
• over $700 million in potential 'default' loans held by investors with the Bendigo Adelaide bank.
• over $200 million in convertible notes held by note holders in TREES 2 and TREES 3.
• the complete loss of shareholder value in the company, should McGrathNicol sell off significant agricultural assets (potentially at less than market value) to pay out the debt owed to the banks, affecting approximately 11,700 shareholders and the noteholders of TREES 2 and TREES 3.
• undermining a valuable contributor to the agricultural sector that has made investment in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars into the rural sector, providing much needed investment into regional towns, with significant direct and indirect regional employment created.
• the future of the forestry plantation industry worth over $1 billion farmgate per annum, as investor confidence in the sector plummets (MIS sales to 30 June 2009 were down over 70% on the previous year).  This will further jeopardise the Australian Forestry Industry, which employs over 76,800 people with total export value approximately $2.5 billion. 
• the potential economic and environmental loss of carbon sequestration, something the Government can ill afford to put at risk at a time when it is showing leadership on the important issue regarding climate change.
• a 'domino' effect on other agri-MIS business reliant on MIS sales for their future viability

Minister, given the unique green footprint and job creation benefits the agricultural and timber industries deliver for Australia, I strongly urge you to support MP action behind the Save My Trees initiative. I submit that the Government cannot turn a blind eye to the issues under consideration and I seek your intervention as my MP, to ensure that the interests of industry, the taxpayer, investors, shareholders and the banks are equally protected.

The press is starting to take notice of this critical issue, and I hope you do too.

Please build upon the progress already made by Save My Trees by responding to this email with your support and registering here www.savemytrees.com.au/join_savemytrees.php.

Thank you in advance for your consideration, and for supporting the growth of the agricultural and timber industries in our country.