It is the second RFA signed in Victoria and the third in a series - the two Victorian ones and one in Tasmania. The best news out of this is that it's going to create 300 new jobs. And that is a very important element of the Regional Forest Agreement. It's a very balanced outcome. It represents yet another putting aside of the phoney war between environmental concerns and job creation and development.
Conservation is important but so is job creation.
It will provide a 20-year period of security for investment. There is 116,000 hectares of additional reserves, which is an increase of 64 per cent. And the RFA that we are signing in a moment meets all of the required scientific criteria. And when added to the existing reserves, almost half of the Central Highlands area will have been reserved. So I'm delighted to be here with the Premier today to sign it.