The Senate has agreed to recommended changes to the Regional Forest Agreements framework to give operational certainty that the native forest industry has been seeking.
The Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee report follows the committee’s inquiry on the private Senator’s Bill put up by Senator Bridget McKenzie. Source: Timberbiz
This follows a controversial ruling of Justice Mortimer last year which undermined two decades of environmental oversight of forestry operations through Regional Forest Agreements.
Earlier this week, a full bench of the Federal Court unanimously upheld VicForests’ appeal of the ruling, proving the critical need for certainty to be guaranteed through legislation for how the intersection of the EPBC Act and Regional Forest Agreements should be interpreted.
The report to the Senate recommends:
- that the Australian Government expedite the necessary changes to the Regional Forest Agreements (RFA) framework to ensure that that the framework delivers operational certainty for the native forestry industry.
- that the Australian Government expedite amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Regional Forest Agreements Act 2002 which introduce a test of judgment — similar to the test which applies to company directors under the Corporations Act 2001 — in order to appropriately balance environmental protection with the operational realities of the field-based operations of the native forestry industry.
- that if the Federal Court decision of 10 May 2021 — in relation to VicForests’ appeal to the decision in Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum Inc v VicForests — is appealed and at that time the Australian Government has not legislated the outcome required by Recommendation 1, the committee recommends that the Senate pass the bill.
- The recommendations, in particular the second recommendation, reflects the submission made by Timber New South Wales to the committee’s hearings in April.
- Timber NSW general manager Maree McCaskill welcomed the committee’s findings and praised the Timber NSW teamwork responsible for the recommendations.
In particular she praised the Timber NSW’s legal expert Stuart Coppock, former VAFI CEO Tim Johnston who worked formulating and advocating the proposal through the Federal back bench, and three NSW Federal MPs Dr David Gillespie (Member for Lyne), Kevin Hogan (Member for Page) and Pat Conaghan (Member for Cowper).
Ms McCaskill said Dr Gillespie deserved special credit for keeping the pressure on Assistant Forestry Minister Senator Jonathon Duniam to solve the problem using “our fix”.
“He understood the subtleties of the concept immediately and knew it was the right way to proceed,” Ms McCaskill said.
“The challenge is now to move the Ministry to implement the ‘fix’ which will be supported by the ALP and does not jeopardise the international agreements on the environment,” she said.
Senator McKenzie said the recommendations vindicated the reasons for her Bill and the need for urgent action that would give industry certainty following the ambiguity created by Justice Mortimer’s ruling in the original case against VicForests by Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum.
“Australia’s forestry industries abide by the most stringent environmental standards, set by the Commonwealth and agreed to with the states that have Regional Forest Agreements,” she said.
“Green lawfare under the guise of environmental protection is not something I will ever sit back and allow to play out in our courts because when this is allowed to happen, it brings the forestry industry to a grinding halt, costs real jobs and detrimentally impacts regional communities.”
“By introducing my Bill and having it referred to a committee inquiry, The Nationals continue to demonstrate that we are the Party that is serious about driving positive change for the people, communities and industries we represent in rural and regional Australia,” Senator McKenzie said.
“While VicForests’ appeal being upheld by the Federal Court is a welcome outcome for industry, it is through legislation that we need to provide the certainty our foresters are desperately seeking.
“We cannot rest on the protections achieved following the unanimous Federal Court’s ruling that overruled Justice Mortimer’s judgement; protection from environmental extremists must be secured for the forestry industry.”
Senator McKenzie said that Labor Senators included a dissenting report proving they cannot see the wood for the trees, turning their back on the hard working, blue singlet wearing foresters they claim to represent.
“When you have the CFMEU giving their full support to my Bill and advocating bipartisan support to pass the bill, how can workers have any faith that the Labor Party will stand up for them? They can’t because Labor’s recommendations show that they have zero regard for the industry and are willing to jeopardise its future,” Senator McKenzie said.
She said the Greens had also included a dissenting report with abhorrent recommendations that demonstrate their continued attacks against sustainable native timber harvesting.
“The fact that the Greens recommend urgent action to end native forest logging shows they’re out of touch with the environmental protections that the regulatory framework provides, have no knowledge of where our hardwood timber comes from and that softwood cannot replace hardwood for so many of the products we use in our everyday lives,” Senator McKenzie said.
