Under the direction of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, native forestry throughout the state of Victoria is set to be banned by 2030.

The move has alarmed rural communities right across Victoria as the regenerative, carbon sequestering resource is not only a sustainable natural product, but provides significant employment, bushfire prevention and a boost to the economy. 

Michael O’Conner of the CEMEU wrote:

“Federal Labor’s task of convincing blue-collar workers and communities they will be looked after is threatened by the approach of the Andrews Government toward timber workers and their communities because these workers are being thrown on the scrap heap. When Daniel Andrews announced that his government would halve the Victorian native forest industry from 2024 and shut it down completely by 2030, it was a hammer blow which blindsided thousands of Victorian timber workers, their families and communities, and shocked and devastated an entire industry.”

He went on to say, “The only type of transition that the current Victorian Government proposal offers for the worker, their family and community is a transition into poverty.”

Nationals’ Federal Member for Gippsland was scathing of the proposal in parliament, stating that it was a pity no Melbourne Labor pollies in the Victorian government could be bothered driving two hours to find out more of the facts.

“We need more boots and less suits,” said Mr Chester.

“That’s more boots on the ground doing the fuel reduction work and the other practical environmental activities, and less suits in Melbourne making excuses and stupid, politically motivated decisions, which endanger the lives of locals and visitors.

“The native hardwood timber industry has changed dramatically over the past 30 years. It’s now a sophisticated, world-class and environmentally sustainable industry that supports Australian jobs, protects our communities and wildlife from bushfires and reduces our carbon footprint.

“The alternative to harvesting local timber on a long-term rotational basis is to import more timber from countries with poorer environmental protocols.

“Dan Andrews’s plan to shut down the native timber industry is a plan to kill country towns, to kill wildlife and to kill Australian jobs.” 

“The combined impact of judicial activism, environmental protest, green lawfare and the abject failure of the Victorian Labor government to support our world-class and environmentally sustainable timber industry is devastating regional communities.

“A sustainable Victorian hardwood timber industry is part of the answer to reducing Australia’s carbon emissions—as timber products sequester carbon in our floorboards, furniture and other timber products. Regrowing trees can increase and maintain the role of forests as carbon sinks, and is the ultimate renewable resource.

“All of the Black Summer bushfires started on public land that had incredibly high fuel loads after decades of mismanagement due to a chronic lack of staff and resources and a lack of commitment to protecting our community from wildfire.”

In Victoria, 3.3 million hectares of environmentally important forest are in conservation areas that can never be harvested, including Victorian old-growth forests.

Trees that are harvested by the timber industry are regrown, by law, and VicForests harvests and regenerates approximately 3,000 hectares each year from multiple-use public forests. 

The native timber industry employs around 21,000 jobs across the state and many locals are involved in the red gum industry.

Next time you admire a red gum table or throw a log on the fire to keep warm, consider the implications of the proposed changes.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 23 February 2023.