Why is the Victorian Government refusing to release pre-designated wood production forest to the timber industry? According to Mark Poynter, a Fellow of the Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA) Premier Daniel Andrews’ explanation that he was following process to get the planning right was hard to understand since the Timber Release Plan has been ready for months. Source: Timberbiz
He said that it could only be assumed that the Andrews Government is not concerned with the livelihoods of the thousands of rural Victorians that this delay affects.
“The Andrews’ Government’s actions are at odds with the Premier’s claim that the government’s position is not to be playing politics with these industries, these jobs and these communities,” Mr Poynter said.
There are far reaching consequences if the government holds back not only directly affecting forestry industry workers but also rural communities and the eco system since timber is a major carbon lock. It could be said that the eco-activists have been unduly influencing the Andrews Government but forgetting that there are eco benefits to timber and that the timber production is highly regulated and forms only a minor portion of the state’s public forests.
Reece Reynolds, who operates a logging business in Buchan in East Gippsland, said he and others in the industry faced growing uncertainty about their working futures, with a limited number of coupes available on the current plan.
Another contractor, Simon McConachy from SKM Contracting in Gippsland, said he had already been hit hard by the timber shortfall.
Stacey Gardiner, Australian Forest Contractors Association (AFCA General Manager), said the long delay in finalising the timber release plan was causing significant issues for the industry.
While the Wilderness Society’s Amelia Young claimed that the timber release plan was being delayed because “there is no wood left in the forest; they have been over-logged for far too long, and bushfire has burnt the forest as well”.
Full coverage of this story is in the forthcoming issue of Australian Forests & Timber.
