Justin Law managing director FWCA
Last week, The Age reported on new laws introduced by the Victorian Government which would see tougher penalties for illegal workplace invaders.
It was no surprise that the journalist, at a publication which is notorious for its hard line against sustainable forestry, would make out that activists were getting a raw deal.
Have a think about that.
Activists, who scream threats of suicide, try to goad workers to violence with vile abuse, drag children onto dangerous worksites, spike trees, tie wire across forestry roads, burn machines, throw faeces and urine at timber workers, cut down protected trees to build obstructions, and lie, and lie, and lie, are – in the eyes of The Age – hard done by because they’ll get fined and possibly jailed for conducting such activity.
We believe strongly in the right to protest. But we cannot abide this continued assault on the mental wellbeing of the people going about their lawful right to work in the forest.
So, should we congratulate the Andrews’ Government putting in some increased protections for timber workers?
No, because they are meaningless.
The courts are the new battleground and in Victoria, 356 coupes are currently locked up in injunctions while the Victorian Supreme Court considers three separate fringe groups’ cases for increasing Greater Glider surveys in each of those coupes tenfold.
It’s an idiotic, pointless demand which would greatly put at risk the safety of the people expected to conduct the surveys, which are carried out predominantly at night.
Greater Gliders are already protected with hollow-bearing trees excluded from harvest and protection zones around them. Gliders move into other areas during harvest, and thanks to these protections, there is zero evidence that they are harmed at all.
But it was enough for the Victorian Supreme Court to bewilderingly give these suspiciously well-funded fringe groups standing in court and shut down pretty much all timber harvesting in our state forests.
Suddenly chaining yourself to a harvest machine to stop work in one coupe looks a bit pointless.
Making the courts the preferred option for activists is made even more attractive by the Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas blocking the recovery of court costs when these legal actions inevitably fail.
When challenged on where the money was to look after those most affected by these court actions, the same minister said last week in the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee “Only Labor Governments can be trusted to stand by workers every step of the way”.
In this case, she means every step of the way to unemployment as she oversees the death of sustainable native timber harvesting.
It sounded like something a vet might say when euthanising animals whose only fault is not being popular.
If the Andrews’ Government was fair dinkum about keeping its promise ensuring supply until the projected 2030 deadline, then the legal loophole enabling these fringe groups to cripple harvesting in the courts would be closed.
It is a simple matter of amending the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004 to introduce a clause identical to Section 347 of the Environment Protection Act 2017 – Persons who may take proceedings.
This clause would ensure that any concerns about timber harvesting would be raised through the appropriate channels. Instead, the Labor/Greens are leaving open the back door to any self-interested fringe group to march into the courts and bring the industry to its knees.
At the very least, there must be a determination to recover the costs when they lose to offset the 10s of millions of dollars of lost productivity and compensation.
It won’t happen under a Labor/Greens government which appears to be working hand in glove with activists to put downward pressure on timber production and kill off timber communities.
Increasing the penalties for illegal workplace invasions is meaningless politicking.
Justin Law is Managing director, Forest & Wood Communities Australia.
