A first-of-its-kind Tasmanian program incentivising northern farmers to grow trees on their farms launches today. The ActivAcre Program sees farmers lease part of their less productive land in return for a reliable, annual income. Source: Timberbiz In addition to increasing the produc

With climate change set to drive bigger and hotter bushfires, much more money needs to be spent on preparations to mitigate against fires in the first place, according to Climate Councillor, Greg Mullins. Source:  Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz Mr Mullins, the former Commissioner of Fir

Extreme fire weather days have increased in Australia by 56% over the last four decades, according to new research from an international team of scientists, including CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. The results, published today, shows that the fire season length across Aus

The NSW Government’s $28 million funding injection to grow farm forestry will help NSW farmers to become foresters and ease the state’s timber shortages amid record demand, according to Australian Forest Products Association NSW. Source: Timberbiz AFPA NSW Chief Executive Officer Vict

  Gippsland’s forestry industry will benefit from new laws aimed to increase protection from politically motivated protest disruption. Source: Timberbiz The Nationals Member for Gippsland South Danny O’Brien said he was happy to join his Nationals colleagues in supporting the Sus

  There is possibly only one thing more dangerous than a bushfire breaking out and there being no fire brigade around to fight it. And that is probably an ill-equipped, poorly trained fire brigade being sent in to battle the blaze. Which begs the question as to why “third party l

Victorian Government bureaucrats have thrown yet another hurdle in front of timber workers trying to salvage up to 500,000 tonnes of windblown fallen timber from the Wombat Forest, following the June 2021 storms. Source: Weekly Times Harvest and haulage contractor Jim Greenwood, who i

Amendments to Western Australia’s Forest Products Act 2000 that will allow the Forest Products Commission (FPC) to trade in carbon assets has passed through State Parliament. Source: Timberbiz Until now, the FPC’s functions were restricted to dealing with forest products, which

Much is made, post Federal and State elections, of retired or even defeated former Ministers landing plush consulting jobs or directorships. All sides of politics carry out the game, usually making disparaging comments about “jobs for the boys” and so on. Sometimes the criticism is we

Former Cabinet Minister and long serving Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon will join the Australian Forest Products Association board as an independent non-executive director. Source: Timberbiz Mr Fitzgibbon was Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the second Rudd Government and

South Australia’s Labor Government is spending a good and fitting amount of time in Mount Gambier visiting local forestry companies like OneFortyOne, and Victorian MP Darren Chester is calling on the Federal Government to do the same. Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has wr

VicForests has secured funding from the Victorian Government to build a 5M capacity seedling nursery.  A lease for land has been signed with East Gippsland Water at its 145 Holloway Road, Bairnsdale site. Now VicForests is tendering for planning, design, construction and commissioning

With the incoming Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, vowing to unite Australians, Gippsland MHR, Darren Chester, has demanded that he start this process by pressuring the Andrews Government to overturn its ridiculous plan to ban native timber harvesting by 2030. Source: Phillip Hopkins

So, Victorian Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe says she is willing to risk losing her parliamentary position to continue protesting native logging. She is, apparently, prepared to break the law to make her point. Source: Timberbiz The laws she is prepared to break are contained in a Bill b

Australia’s forest industries welcome the new Albanese Government Ministry that was sworn in with a mandate to turbocharge the nation’s One Billion Trees goal to tackle climate change and secure Australia’s future timber and fibre needs. Source: Timberbiz Australian Forest Products As

Forestry Australia has revealed an inspiring line-up of keynote speakers for its 2022 Symposium, to be held both in person in Albury and online from Thursday 20 – Saturday 22 October. Source: Timberbiz Forest Policy Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nation

The Victorian Government has taken firm – and in some quarters unexpected – action to safeguard the State’s timber workers from protestors. The proposed new laws are made of stern stuff, and the Government is to be applauded for its action. Protestors who illegally enter coupes in Vic

Protestors who illegally enter coupes in Victoria and dangerously interfere with workers or their machinery will be subject to stronger penalties including maximum fines of more than $21,000 or 12-months imprisonment. Source: Timberbiz And PVC and metal pipes, which can be used in dan

The Australian Forest Products Association has congratulated the incoming Albanese Labor Government and signalled its determination to assist Labor meet timber production targets and more ambitious climate goals. Source: Timberbiz Anthony Albanese was sworn in as Australia’s 31st prim

The biggest risk to the Australian timber industry in tomorrow’s Federal Election it seems is that it ends with a Labor Government with the support of independents. And by independents, in particular, read The Greens. Consider this. Greens Senator for Tasmania Peter Whish-Wilson is al

Timberlink has unveiled its new world-class Green Mill Vision Scanning System at its manufacturing facility at Bell Bay in Tasmania. Source: Timberbiz The $5.5m co-investment in the continuing upgrade and modernisation of Tasmania’s largest softwood timber manufacturing plant is suppo

The Coalition’s forest industry policy commitments have been given a “five stars out of five” ahead of Labor at “four stars” by the Australian Forest Products Association. Source: Timberbiz An AFPA analysis of the major political parties’ forest industry policy commitments has found t

The devastation that will be caused from Parkside’s decision to close its Greenbushes Mill in Western Australia this week with the loss of 50 jobs cannot be underestimated. That 50 jobs will be lost from a township with a population less than 400 will be devastating. Shire of Br

Illegal green activists were showing no respect for the traditional owners of the Wombat State Forest, blockading planned salvage harvesting needed to restore country. The Dja Dja Wurrung have commissioned VicForests to undertake extensive surveys and arrange salvage harvesting of win

Queensland’s Parkside Timber will close its green and dry mill at Greenbushes in Western Australia on Friday with 50 local employees stood down. The WA State Government’s decision to end native forestry by the end of 2023 has been blamed for the closure. Source: Timberbiz However WA F

Anyone in the housing industry looking for some relief from the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 0.25% increase in the cash rate was sadly disappointed. The idea that just maybe an increase in home loan interest rates may take some of the heat out of the housing market by slowing loan appl

The Maryvale Energy from Waste project at Opal Australian Paper’s Maryvale Mill, in Victoria, has been given $48.2m in grant funding helping to power Opal’s pulp and paper mill while driving down emissions. Source: Timberbiz By diverting about 325,000 tonnes a year of non-recyclable w

The University of Tasmania in Launceston will be home to a trailblazing new National Institute for Forest Products Innovation that will position Australia as a world leader in timber and wood fibre R&D after the Federal Labor Party matched the Coalition’s $100 million pledge. Sour

Hindsight, it is said, is 20:20 vision. But it can also be extremely insightful. Take the Victorian State Government’s decision this week to scrap the native seedling nursery at Nowa Nowa, East Gippsland. The $2m nursery, announced in 2020, was to be built on the PR Adams sawmill site

The West Australian Government has reached agreement with the Forest Industries Federation WA on a $26.9 million Business Transition Program. The Business Transition Program will provide financial support to native timber sawmills and harvesters before native forest logging ends in 20

So, Australia faces a ‘critical housing timber shortage’ by 2050. An interim report by Forest & Wood Products Australia has found that our reliance on imported timber will double by 2050 if our nation falls short of the plan to plant an additional one billion production trees. Thi

A first of its kind Green Triangle wood trial will explore how to use low value fibre in a new structural timber product thanks to a $1.3 million contribution from the Federal Government. Source: Timberbiz Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) in partnership with the Green Triangl

With the official launch of the federal election campaign HIA will be working hard to ensure that all sides of politics have a clear plan on how to help all Australians have safe and secure housing. Source: Timberbiz “HIA has long argued that getting people into their own home is one

Coinciding with the start of the federal election campaign, Australia’s forest industries have launched “Australia, we need a tree change”, a major TV and digital advertising campaign promoting our need to plant one billion new forestry production trees to build future homes, provide

Hats off to the Wellington Shire Council for uncovering that Premier Daniel Andrews went to the last election and did not disclose the state government’s intention to shut down the native timber industry. The FOI documents, finally released to the Council after years of requests and a

Victoria’s Premier Dan Andrews has been accused of treating the forestry sector “like fools”. The comment by Timber Towns Victoria chair Karen Stephens follows a report in the Weekly Times that Mr Andrews signed off on phasing out native forest timber harvesting in Victoria in A

The sawmilling and timber processing sectors are developing new skills as the industry undergoes rapid digital transformation and technical progress. State-of-the-art equipment is being integrated into workplaces to increase productivity and produce innovative products, including cros

There did not appear a lot for Australia’s timber industry to get excited about in this week’s Federal Budget. Confirmation of $86 million to establish new timber plantations was of course welcome. But it was simply a repeat of an announcement made in February. The Australian Forest C

The Federal Budget’s confirmation of $86 million to establish new timber plantations has been welcomed by the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) but it has warned that more action is needed to ensure Australia can meet its future timber and wood fibre needs. Source: Timberb

ForestWorks has launched a new program in the Snowy Valley region called the Snowy Valley Skills Development Service. Source: Tumut and Adelong Times The SVSDS is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and the New South Wales Government under the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund. For

According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, sustainably managed forests will help us move to an economy based on renewable, reusable, and recyclable materials. And as the world celebrated International Day of Forests on Monday, VFPA CEO Deb Kerr was calling on all sides o

The Federal Government will apply concessional tax treatment to the sale of Australian Carbon Credit Units generated by farmers from on-farm carbon projects including plantation forestry. Source: Timberbiz Under the new tax regime, farmers will treat revenue from the sale of ACCUs as

International Day of Forests Australia’s forest industries are marking today’s International Day of Forests to call on all sides of politics to focus on getting more production trees planted nationally, while guaranteeing a secure future for our sustainable native forest industries, t

Australians, in general, have always been happy – more or less – to be involved in a fair and equal fight. But it needs to be fair. Having one, or both, hands tied behind the back is simply not fair. What makes it even more unpalatable is when that handicap has the appearance of being

Anti-logging campaigners Environment East Gippsland have admitted diverting $336,000 into a trust fund just three weeks before commencing legal action against VicForests, which will stop the money being used to cover any court-awarded costs if it lost the case. Source: Weekly Times Re

The promise by the State Opposition to establish Mount Gambier as a high-status recognised centre of forestry research in Australia if it wins next weekend’s South Australian state elections is to be welcomed. So are its promises to develop the Trees on Farms initiative and plan

The decision by the world’s largest international forestry certifier to designate all timber originating from Russia and Belarus as ‘conflict timber’ banning this timber from being used in PEFC-certified products will have real and significant potential to impact on South Australia’s

The timber workers union (CFMEU Manufacturing) is demanding all political parties and independents facing March 19’s South Australian elections commit to support the South Australian forest and forest products industry. Source: Timberbiz “We need a growing forest and forest prod

The Federal Election can’t be that far away. It seems the only thing left is to decide the date. All we know is that it will be after the Federal Budget is handed down on March 29. While the election campaign proper is yet to be announced, the wish lists are starting to pile up. The A

The National Farmers Federation has identified 20 regional centres, including the key forestry precincts of the Green Triangle and the Gippsland Region, as targets for regional renewal. Source: Timberbiz And the NFF has recommended more than $1.4 billion in new investment to secure th

There is no moral equivalence between trade and the rights of sovereign nations, or of human rights for that matter. Trade is a tool for meeting human needs and advancing the interests of countries. Source: IndustryEdge Inevitably, trade with Russia and the Ukraine is a relevant topic

The Federal Government’s $86m plan for forestry announced this week must be generally applauded, but as the old saying goes, the devil will be in the detail. The $86 million for a cash-grant scheme is designed to help foresters and farmers in 11 declared regional forest hubs – includi

The announcement of $86 million in seed capital to grow new commercial plantation estate is another progressive step forward in realising the Green Triangle Forest Industries Hub’s Trees into Farming plan, according to committee chair Cam MacDonald. Source: Timberbiz And, according to

THE future of Australia’s wood supply will be secured under an ambitious funding plan working with foresters across the eastern states to plant up to 150 million trees in the next five years. Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will travel to Tasmania today to

The recent hearings by the New South Wales Upper House inquiry examining the sustainability of the timber industry should have, it is to be hoped, opened the eyes of the committee members. The hearings in Tumut laid down the facts for the committee made up of Mark Banasiak (SFF), Mick

Logging contractors had been left out of government support for the timber industry, an inquiry into the long term sustainability of the timber industry in Tumut has been told. Source: Tumut and Adelong Times Tumbarumba forest contracting operator Theresa Lonergan addressed the Upper

The Australian Forest Products Association NSW has welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to boost protections for koalas while raising the threatened species status from ‘vulnerable’ to ‘endangered’. Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Forest Products Association NSW, Victo

Some might say Australia’s appreciation of the benefits of engineered wood is still in its infancy. As recently as 2015 there were only two CLT buildings, in Melbourne, using panels shipped from Europe where engineered wood has had a strong following for quite some time. But the benef

Victoria’s State Government has told VicForests to back off taking legal action to recover $2 million in taxpayers’ funds from the anti-logging group MyEnvironment, according to a report in the Weekly Times. Source: Timberbiz The move has led the timber industry and Opposition to accu

Western Australia’s Minister for Forestry Dave Kelly must listen to the concerns of the forestry industry and drastically improve his attempt at a recently announced compensation package which has been labelled offensive by the sector, according to the State Opposition. The Labor Gove

It would be easy to dismiss the Federal Government decision to pour $300m into the promotion of low emissions timber as an election sweetener. The program, launched through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, will promote the use of low-carbon engineered wood materials in apartments

The Hyne Group has announced a partnership with UK-based James Jones & Sons Limited bringing together a combined 320 years of family-owned sawmilling heritage to pursue growth opportunities. Source: Timberbiz Under the terms of the partnership James Jones & Sons Limited holds

After reporting a five-year spend of nearly NZ$1.5 million on repairing roads damaged by logging trucks, a Taranaki council is looking to charge forestry owners more to save ratepayers footing the bill. Source: Stuff The Stratford District Council said costs to repair the unsealed roa

The Tasmanian Government is certainly putting its money where its mouth is in terms of forestry and timber. An investment of $6 million in a calculated bid to gain higher returns by increasing value-added production is hardly spare change. Seven projects around Tasmania will share in

  Forestry PhD graduates Michelle Balasso and Vilius Gendvilas obtained their PhD degrees from the University of Tasmania last year after being supported by Forico and other partners in their studies at the ARC Training Centre for Forest Value. Source: Timberbiz The Centre for Fo

It could be argued, mischievously perhaps, that loopholes are sometimes deliberately included in government-created rules and regulations to provide some wriggle room for various parties. Why else would a loophole exist in the Sustainable Forests Act which has enabled activist vigilan

Forest and Wood Communities Australia wants the Andrews Government to close the loophole in the Sustainable Forests Act which has enabled activist vigilantes to devastate the livelihoods of regional Victorians. Source: Timberbiz Unlike the Environment Protection Act 2017 (Section 347)

Conservationist Bob Brown and five other activists will fight a charge of trespass later this year after they were arrested while protesting the logging of swift parrot habitat. Source: The Mercury In December 2020, the group was arrested in the Eastern Tiers, where the critically end

There are only so many kicks in the teeth an industry can cope with. In Victoria of course there was the pre-Christmas Supreme Court decision which effectively shut down VicForests’ entire native timber operations. The court order cites that any coupe with one or more greater glider s

WA mills have been told that any attempt to seek legal redress over any breach of contract would result in them missing out on any compensation from the Government’s $50 million transition package for logging businesses impacted by the native logging ban. Source: Timberbiz The State G

Western Australia’s Forest Industries Federation wants Premier Mark McGowan to honour his commitment to timber businesses. When Mr McGowan made his announcement to cease harvesting of native forests by the end of 2023, he publicly pledged that the government would meet current contrac

Next thing the Minister will have protestors on the steps of parliament because we are importing (timber) from countries with far less oversight and killing orang-utans – Nationals Gippsland East MP Tim Bull. It’s about time someone put it as bluntly as that. He went on: “What I would

Victoria’s native timber industry has been left in limbo with VicForests believed to be standing crews down following a Supreme Court decision just days before Christmas Day. In the Supreme Court on 22 December 2021, Justice Richards granted an order to stop native timber harvesting i

Australia’s forestry sector has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement of $26.2 million in funding for forestry with both the Victorian Forest Products Association (VFPA) and the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) issuing statements to that effect. Funding will assi

A new $1.1 million Regional Forestry Hub has been launched in Eden, New South Wales to support forest industries’ growth and innovation in the Eden region. This is Australia’s 11th Regional Forestry Hub established under the national Forest Industries Plan. Source: Timberbiz Ass

The High Court has refused the Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum request to appeal to the High Court in their case against VicForests. In the decision on Friday the High Court ruled that it did not find any fault with the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision. Source: Timberbiz The Friends

A new study that claimed New South Wales taxpayers would save millions of dollars every year if the harvesting of native timber was stopped drew a sharp intake of breath in a number of quarters this week. None more so than from South East Timber Association secretary Peter Rutherford.

The Murray Valley timber catchment holds great potential for forestry plantation growth and offers a viable solution to shoring up future timber supply for housing and construction following the Black Summer bushfires, according to a professional forum held in the region last month. S

NewGen timber mill in South Australia may have a solution to stem the demand for structural timber following a state government grant. More than $400,000 has been handed over to NewGen Timber to further develop the recently purchased site in an effort to increase the structural timber

Lawfare. It’s a word that first saw the light of day, it is said, in the 1975 manuscript Whither Goeth the Law, which argues that the Western legal system has become overly contentious, and utilitarian as compared with the more humanitarian, norm-based Eastern system. More recently, i

The $11.3 million Eric Tweedale Stadium in Western Sydney is the overall winner of this year’s Australian Timber Design Awards. The stunning stadium, offering a new home for community sport and providing residents and visitors with a revitalised facility, is also winner of the People’

A massive industry labour shortage in the region has hit a local business hard with Alpine Truss in Wangaratta willing to put on up to 30 good workers but they can‘t fill the positions. Source: Wangaratta Chronicle The business hasn‘t been busier in its 20 years of operation, even wit

It has been a rough week in Victoria with court action and protests highlighting the timber situation in that State. And it all stems from the Victorian Government’s decision to shut down the native timber industry by 2030. It began anew last week with the CMFEU warning that impending

Victorian Labor senator Raff Ciccone has warned his colleagues against demonising regional industries, particularly forestry, as the federal opposition prepares to finalise its climate policy ahead of next year’s election. Source: The Age In a speech to the Senate on Tuesday night, Se

The Victorian timber industry is facing a fresh crisis with VicForests’ contractors and timber workers stood down last week because of more recent injunctions placed on the harvesting of coupes. Source: Timberbiz The timber workers union held urgent talks with forest contractors

The end days of the Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers saga involving the timber company building a deep-water harbour facility on the island played out in the South Australian Parliament this week. And it looks like it could cost the State’s Attorney General, who is also Planning Min

Australia’s nine Regional Forestry Hubs have received a $9 million funding boost to support growth in the forest industries. Spread out for the next four years, the funding is part of a $10.6 million national investment which will help finance the existing forestry hubs around Austral

ABARES Australia’s State of the Forests Report – 2023 and beyond position paper identifies drivers for change in the mechanism of forest reporting through including increasing user expectations for access to current forest data, and access to information and analysis in digital, onlin

It is a fact that many of the roads, parks, walking trails and bike paths in our native forest regions across Australia are only there because of the forestry industry. The industry keeps the roads and tracks clear, and, in many cases, helps fund and create facilities. When tourists g

The Tasmanian Liberal Government has dismissed claims that forestry and tourism cannot co-exist in the State. “It is a matter of fact that a number of our iconic tourism ventures are located on or adjacent to forestry land, and have been for a number of years,” Resources Minister Guy

An unnecessary Victorian State Government zoning change is sacrificing East Gippsland timber jobs, according to the National Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Melina Bath. Source: Timberbiz According to Ms Bath, the State Government has altered the prescriptions from General Managem

Give Bob Brown an inch and he’ll take a heck of a lot more than just a mile. Take this week’s quite valid pledge out of the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use signed by more than 100 world leaders including our own prime minister Scott Morrison to halt deforestation

The past two years has been a period of upheaval within the timber industry nationally with bushfires, COVID lockdowns, China, plans to halt the native timber industry in at least two States and legal challenges to the timber industry as a whole. We believe the time is right to take a

The Australian Forest Products Association NSW wants the timber plantation regions of Oberon/Bathurst and Eden/Bombala included in the Emissions Reduction Fund. Source: Timberbiz Southern Tasmania, Gippsland, the Victorian side of the Green Triangle and Kangaroo Island were added to t

Why do the Greens do it? Why do they even bother? Why do they waste so much valuable time on little more than pointless publicity stunts? It’s probably because they can. This week it was a Bill the Greens leader in Tasmania Cassy O’Connor introduced the Forest Management Amendment (Mi

Southern Tasmania, Gippsland, the Victorian side of the Green Triangle and Kangaroo Island can now participate in the Emissions Reduction Fund with the Federal Government yesterday removing the highly contested rainfall regulation, known as the ‘water rule’. Source: Timberbiz In July

Mount Gambier-based ForestrySA ranger Kieran Gosden has won the 2021 Richard Stanton Award for her work in sustainable forestry and communities. The award and trophy, presented remotely during Responsible Wood AGM, recognises the life of a man who was devoted to the forest industry in

At a time when it is obvious that what we need now, and will need into the future, is more timber than we have, taking land from timber production would seem a bit odd. It has been reported extensively that Australia faces a timber deficit of 250,000 house frames in 15 years’ time and

A new $1.3 million feasibility study including targeted stakeholder consultation is looking at how best to improve research and development in the forestry sector, including the option of a National Institute for Forest Products Innovation. Source: Timberbiz Assistant Minister for For

  Post-harvest surveys have shown VicForests’ harvesting and regeneration practices are better protecting Victoria’s wildlife as species are now commonly found immediately within or around completed harvest areas.  Source: Timberbiz Presenting at Forestry Australia’s National Con

So, despite all the silly protests, koalas on the north coast of NSW are not under threat of extinction from timber harvesting after all. In fact, to quote the State’s Natural Resources Commissioner, Professor Hugh Durrant-Whyte – koala density is higher than anticipated in the survey

Tasmania’s largest plantation forestry manager, Forico, has released a world-leading and Australian first Natural Capital Report, which puts the net value of its forest ecosystem at $3.4 billion and the value of sequestered carbon as high as $9.2 billion. Source: Timberbiz The report

Victoria’s forestry workers, it is probably fair to say, were well and truly stitched up by their State Government this week. The “strict liability” clause in the Forests Legislation (Compliance and Enforcement) Bill 2019 leaves native timber workers vulnerable to a range of new serio

Legislation that threatens increased culpability and liability for forestry workers in Victoria was passed by State Parliament today. Source: Timberbiz It passed after the Victorian State Government refused to support amendments to the Forests Legislation Amendment (Compliance and Enf

The housing construction industry is facing something of a crisis. According to a landmark new report released on Tuesday by Master Builders Australia and the Australian Forest Products Association titled Australia’s Timber Framing Cliff, Australia faces a major sovereign capability g

Australia faces a major sovereign capability gap in the production of timber house frames by 2035, according to a landmark new report by Master Builders Australia and the Australian Forest Products Association titled Australia’s Timber Framing Cliff. Source: Timberbiz The report furth

A progress report on the National Forest Industries Plan shows the Australian Government is delivering on its commitments under the plan. The plan was launched in 2018 following extensive nationwide consultation. Source: Timberbiz “The Australian Government listened to industry when t

Common sense has prevailed with the fire-salvaged timber situation on Kangaroo Island. Bushfire-damaged timber on Kangaroo Island – enough timber for 10,000 new houses – will be sent to the mainland following a $15.1 million investment by the Federal Government. It should have been su

Western Australia’s largest hardwood timber operator has denied threatening to shut down its operations unless it received a $25.8 million grant from the State Government. Source: Timberbiz According to The West Australian newspaper a presentation by Parkside said that “without the gr

VicForests’ Board has approved the amendments to the TRP, in accordance with the requirements of the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004, and a notice in relation to the amended TRP was published in the Victoria Government Gazette S 506 on Wednesday.   Source: Timberbiz The amendmen

Thursday’s decision by the State Government in Victoria to delay a vote on radical reforms to Victoria’s forests legislation must only be seen as just that – a delay. But it might just be enough if there are enough delaying tactics deployed. And it seems likely that delaying tactics w

A Bill which opponents claim would result in Victorian native forest logging contractors facing huge fines for failing to comply with a Code of Practice for Timber Harvesting that is still under review has been passed in the Upper House and sent to the committee stage. The Victorian t

State and Federal MPs have poured cold water on Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell’s push to lease carbon credits generated from the South East plantation estate to commercial entities, describing the value as minimal. Source: The Border Watch The independent MP has suggested the Stat

The WA Government’s decision this week to shut down the state’s native timber industry came as a rude shock to the entire industry. The decision was seemingly made with no industry consultation and was crudely delivered to say the least. One mill operator with 60 years’ experience in

WA’s forestry industry has been blindsided by the State Government’s sudden decision to end the native forestry sector by 2024. The announcement came yesterday morning with no industry consultation, leaving businesses, employees and regional communities shocked. Source: Timberbiz The

A timber coupe being used by TAFE Gippsland for training Victorian essential service personnel has been targeted by ‘vexatious’ court claims resulting in its closure. Source: Timberbiz Tiger coupe, located near Nowa Nowa in the Colquhoun State Forest in East Gippsland is a

The 2019-20 bushfires throughout Gippsland and Victoria’s north-east burnt 650,000 hectares of native forest set aside for the timber industry and released more than 50 million tonnes of forest carbon stocks into the atmosphere, according to a government report. Source: Philip Hopkins

From time to time, people enter the timber industry, sometimes from left field, and makes a huge difference to the industry as a whole. Forest and Wood Products Australia Managing Director Ric Sinclair and Australian Forest Contractors Association general manager Stacey Gardiner were

Forest and Wood Products Australia research to be presented at the National Forest Industries Symposium today has found planting production trees to offset emissions from Australia’s biggest companies would deliver a win-win; both tackling climate change and securing more future timbe

Tasmanian Forest Products Association (TFPA) says it is looking forward to working closely with the State Government and the minister to implement some important State Budget announcements that affect the forestry sector. Source: Timberbiz “Importantly the budget recognises the need f

The cancellation of this year’s AUSTimber event, while probably inevitable given the circumstances, is nonetheless disappointing in so many ways. No one wins. From the event organisers to the exhibitors to the communities and businesses in East Gippsland, to the industry as a whole, e

The Tasmanian Government will re-introduce anti-protest legislation which that failed to pass in the Upper House earlier this year. Resources Minister Guy Barnett told Parliament on Tuesday the government had a mandate to re-prosecute its workplace protection laws. Source: Timberbiz H

  The head of climate diplomacy at the British High Commission will discuss the United Kingdom’s Road to net-zero with the help of forestry and timber at the National Forest Industries Symposium. Source: Timberbiz It comes after the Australian Forest Products Association secured

If there is anything to be learnt from the pandemic, the first on the list must be what we got wrong, the second is how we ensure those mistakes don’t happen again, and thirdly, will things ever be the same again. The first is easy. We got so much wrong, and we are still getting thing

Five hundred homes worth of timber destined for Melbourne has been abandoned at a Shanghai dock because a shipping company accepted a lucrative offer to divert course to Los Angeles. Source: The Age, The Hardware Journal The Master Builders Association of Victoria (MBAV) said 50 conta

As Australia contends with major timber framing supply issues, forest industries look forward to greater progress on the Federal Government’s Billion Trees Plan to ensure we achieve sovereign capability to create our sustainable and essential wood and fibre products into the future sa

The announcement by Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers (KIPT) that the company would pull out of forestry after its plan to build the Smith Bay Wharf was rejected was more than a surprise but the fact that now the South Australian Government will try to salvage the remaining timber is

Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers will remove its tree crop and return its land to traditional agricultural use. Source: Timberbiz The decision follows Planning Minister Vickie Chapman’s decision on Monday to reject KIPT’s plans to build a $40m seaport on Kangaroo Island to export ti

Queensland has been propelled to the top of HIA’s Housing Scorecard for the first time since 2007.
The HIA Housing Scorecard report presents analysis which ranks each of the eight states and territories based on the performance of 13 key residential building indicators, including deta

Australia’s Regional Forest Agreements are under attack like never before. So far this year the forestry industry has had two successes in two states in cases which, had the environmental lobby been successful, had the potential to derail the RFAs Australia-wide. After failures in Vic

The Environmental Defenders Office is heading to the Federal Court to challenge a New South Wales Regional Forest Agreement. Originally signed between the Commonwealth and New South Wales in 2000, it was renewed in 2018 for another 20 years with rolling extensions that could continue

Forestry research in South Australia will get a $2 million boost with the State Government committing the funding over four years to the National Institute for Forest Products Innovation Mount Gambier centre. Source: Timberbiz Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister David

There is some hope that the recent research paper authored by six eminent forest ecology and bushfire scientists led by Professor Rodney Keenan and Professor Peter Kanowski from the ANU might go some way in shutting the hysterical blame game that logging of native forests increased th

Boral Limited has entered into an agreement with Allied Natural Wood Enterprises Pty Limited (Pentarch Group) to sell its Australian hardwood and softwood timber business for $64.5 million. Source: Timberbiz The purchase includes Boral’s nine sawmills in NSW, making Pentarch the large

Investment house AXA IM has taken control of 24,000 hectares of pine plantations straddling the border between Victoria and South Australia in a $775 million deal with US fund manager Global Forest Partners, the biggest timber transaction in the country for more than a decade. Source:

The Green Triangle region is blessed with a regular supply of rain. Mount Gambier, for example, gets around 660 mm (around 26 inches) of rain falls annually. So, it seems somewhat contradictory that the timber industry in the Green Triangle has a water problem. And not just a water pr

Urgent talks were underway this morning in a bid to get mills on the South Australian side of the Green Triangle open for business. It was hoped an exemption would be given by this afternoon. Source: Timberbiz Ten South East mills are expected to close at a cost of almost $4m a day du

The Victorian and Queensland Governments have secured a deal to share a Large Air Tanker to support aerial firefighting capacity in both states during their respective bushfire seasons. Source: Timberbiz The Bombardier Dash-8 Q400AT aircraft will operate in Queensland from September t

There is clearly widespread support for the Victorian Government’s move to overhaul the timber code of practice. The aim is to deliver certainty for conservationists, the forest industry and the Conservation Regulator. The code plays a crucial role in regulating Victoria’s native timb

The Victorian Government is advertising up to 300 Project Firefighters and Forest and Fire Operations Officer positions ahead of the upcoming bushfire season.  Source: Timberbiz Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio announced the positions with Forest Fir

Gippslanders are owed an explanation after the State Labor Government backed imported timber over the local product for a signature building project, according to the Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester. Source: Timberbiz German company Hess Timber company has been chosen over

Government is the business of give and take. It’s as simple as that, and the Victorian Government seems to be a master of it. But it can look so clumsy while doing it. At a time when it is trying to look good and do the right thing by the timber industry in Eastern Victoria while at t

Australia will see an increasing need to import timber in one form or another for at least the next couple of decades. And there’s no great resource of this product available to suddenly ship to Australia, and neither is there any great enthusiasm for Australia among importers.

Homeowners and builders in Queensland caught in the “perfect storm” of rising prices and material shortages now have access to free help to get their homes built. The Accelerated Builder/Consumer Dispute (ABCD) service went live on 1 July with free professional mediators to help frust

The timber shortage situation is not getting any better. In fact, indications are that it’s getting worse. There are reports from the Frame and Truss Manufacturers Association of Australia that some timber companies are leapfrogging fabricators and are dealing directly with builders.

New regulations that will expand the types of offences for which charities could be deregistered have been widely welcomed by the timber industry. The changes to the regulation will empower the Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not‑for‑profits Commission (ACNC) to investiga

New regulations have been introduced which will expand the types of offences for which charities could be deregistered. The new regulations will empower the Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not for profits Commission (ACNC) to investigate charities engaging in or promoting

So, the Bob Brown Foundation’s “Great Forest Case” has been fought, and lost. But what does this decision by the High Court to reject the foundation’s application for leave to appeal an earlier Federal Court judgement in favour of Sustainable Timber Tasmania and in general

A worldwide timber shortage has hampered a Wangaratta business’s plans to employ an additional 30 staff. Source: George Prothero, managing director of Tone Road’s Alpine Truss, said the shortage was being felt Australia-wide due to damage wrought on plantations by NSW bush

A new $4.5 million sawmill in the Adelaide Hills will be built which will increase timber supply and create local jobs thanks to a new long-term log supply agreement with ForestrySA. Source: Timberbiz KSI Sawmills, which currently operates a small mill at Nuriootpa, will build the new

Covid-19 continues to claim its victims – both medically and economically – across the world. Australia, and New Zealand, have in relative terms been lucky. Being isolated islands has helped. While the vaccines seem to be working and fatalities seem few if any at all, vigilance

Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum has lodged an application for special leave to appeal its recent loss to VicForests in the Federal Court to the High Court. The group is seeking special leave to appeal from the whole of the judgment of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia gi

For reasons best known to themselves the opponents of VicForests have chosen to claim some sort of victory in the case involving the Leadbeaters Possum because the Federal Court only reversed a single finding relating to the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conserv

Hardware giant Bunnings has reaffirmed its boycott of VicForests timber despite the Federal Court ruling that VicForests had not broken Commonwealth environmental laws. Bunnings announced in June last year it would stop selling timber logged by VicForests after a court found the state

A “white knight” solution by the South Australian Primary Industries Minister to address the State’s chronic timber crisis demonstrates his total lack of understanding of the crisis gripping the state $16 billion building and construction industry, according to SA-Best. Source: Timber

This week’s summit in Adelaide on the dire situation the building industry finds itself in has highlighted how bad the crisis really is. John Bowen from Bowen Timber in Melbourne has already said he doesn’t know “when this craziness will end”. GCJ Constructions project manager Nathan

An emergency summit was being held in Adelaide this morning with all key housing industry stakeholders in an attempt to develop a blueprint to avoid the timber shortage crisis from worsening. Source: Timberbiz Those invited to attend the summit, organised by SA-Best MLCs Connie Bonaro

Increased focus on greater diversity in the workplace coupled with community feedback has spurred Hyne Timber to call for more female students and women to consider careers in manufacturing. Source: Timberbiz As part of a recent recruitment drive in Maryborough and Hervey Bay shopping

The causes of the nation’s current timber shortage have been widely described as “the perfect storm”. The description is probably correct. The causes have been identified as the success of Homebuilder, a spike in the price of timber exported from Australia, and delays in timber being

Eligible local Landcare groups, environment networks and community groups working on bushfire recovery projects can now access funding of approximately $50,000 in a landmark new grants program funded by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. So

The decision by the Andrews Government to close the native forest industry highlights the need for a national fibre strategy to ensure a strategic wood supply, according to federal MP Darren Chester. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz Mr Chester, Member for Gippsland and Minister fo

A South Australian sawmill’s plight has become the epitome of the turmoil in the industry caused by fires, building supply shortages and the inequity of the Federal Government’s forestry transport assistance scheme. Morgan Sawmill, which employs 75 people in Jamestown north of Adelaid

VicForests has again been forced to defend itself over allegations that it is conducting illegal logging and putting Melbourne’s water catchment at risk. The ABC reported yesterday on alleged illegal logging in Melbourne’s Thomson dam catchment. Source: Timberbiz The ABC y

Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers believes $32 million allocated in the Federal Budget for road funding on Kangaroo Island will be the final piece of the puzzle to clear the way for approval of its proposed KI Seaport development at Smith Bay. Source: Timberbiz The Federal funding ha

What a week it has been for the timber industry both at a local and national level. The good news just seemed to keep on coming. VicForests was vindicated by the Federal Court which determined its forestry operations covered by Regional Forest Agreements provide all the environmental

Funding to expand the Regional Forestry Hubs and a feasibility study to create a new National Institute for Forest Products Innovation has been allocated in the Federal Budget. The Budget has allocated $10.6 million to expand and continue the Regional Forestry Hubs, including new fund

VicForests today won its appeal against a Federal Court order which imposed strict conditions to stop logging of threatened species habitat in Victoria’s Central Highlands. The appeal was handed down in the Federal Court this morning. Source: Timberbiz In a unanimous decision, the Cou

The demand for timber for houses in particular is on fire. And it’s not just in Australia; it’s worldwide. In the United States prices have gone up 300% or 400%. The Canadian supply is going down fast. Source: Bruce Mitchell for Timberbiz In Australia sawmills have greatly increased p

The last log truck carrying salvaged, burnt logs from the 2019/20 bushfires was waved into the Hyne Tumbarumba Mill on Tuesday. The unprecedented, 15 months of salvage harvesting has seen more than 1.6 million burnt plantation pine logs processed at the Hyne Mill alone. The burnt bark

The closure of Victoria’s native timber industry, planned by the Andrews Labor Government, will have a massive impact on local employment and the local economy, according to the leader of the Nationals in Victoria Peter Walsh. Source: Timberbiz At the end of 2019, the Victorian Govern

The independent report commissioned by the Wellington and East Gippsland shires into the economic impact of the closure of the native timber industry in East Gippsland provides some sober reading. Source: Bruce Mitchell And it is something of a landmark document. This is no “woe is us

A recent visit to Victorian Sustainable Products by The Nationals Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Melina Bath has highlighted the value of local timber milling and manufacturing jobs. Source: Timberbiz Ms Bath visited Victorian Sustainable Products’ Fumina South mill to gain a com

Australia’s top STIHL TIMBERSPORTS athletes will be chopping and sawing at the Melbourne’s St Kilda foreshore on Saturday 8 May vying for the 2021 Australian Trophy & Australian Women’s Championship. Source: Timberbiz The Australian Trophy was the last competition in the global se

Again, the ABC has set its sights on firing shots at VicForests using any ammo it can lay hands to even if its NQR (not quite right). On 20 April the ABC published a long article based on information that was askew. It claimed that Melbourne’s drinking water was at risk from logging o

A re-elected majority Tasmanian Liberal government would partner with the Tasmanian Forests and Forest Products Network (TFFPN) to invest in the establishment of a Diversity Action Plan to increase the gender and cultural diversity of the resources sector. Source: Timberbiz Recent ind

The weekend announcement that the HomeBuilder commencement time will be extended to 18 months has been greeted as welcome news for the housing industry, the economy and for those embracing the HomeBuilder grant. There had been fears that many who applied for the $25,000 HomeBuilder gr

The anti-forestry lobby appears to be going on a war footing. The World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature-Australia has reportedly set up a legal fund for community groups to challenge development decisions in forests they say are under threat from land clearing in the aftermath of the 2019-

The South-East Queensland regional forestry hub has appointed the management team to implement and progress further development of the industry in the region. Source: Timberbiz The hub is part of a network of hubs funded by the Australian Government, with one million dollars in seed f

A protestor who put an infant’s life in danger for the sake of a media stunt at a logging site in East Gippsland has been roundly criticised by the timber industry and the Victorian Government. Source: Timberbiz Reports from the site said the protestor – believed to a member of the Go

There is an old saying, particularly in political circles, that no review or inquiry should be commissioned unless the result is known in advance. This is because, all too often, many reviews or inquiries are held to justify the position held by the commissioning authority. Source: Br

Red Stag in New Zealand has announced that it will open a new wood processing plant in a few weeks to produce CLT. It is hoped that the new plant may help alleviate the country’s timber shortage according to Red Stage group CEO Marty Verry. Source: Timberbiz The plant, says Verry, wil

The Greens leader in Tasmania Cassy O’Connor must apologise for the disgraceful public slur made this week against the State’s forestry workers on radio show Tasmania Talks, says Forest & Wood Communities Australia. Source: Timberbiz Ms O’Connor accused timber workers of carrying

The first barge load of 300 cubic metres of pine logs from the KIPT estate has been loaded aboard the Rocksea to be towed to Port Adelaide, where it will be containerised and shipped to a customer in South Korea. Source: Timberbiz KIPT Managing Director Keith Lamb acknowledged this wa

All week we’ve been following the to and fro in Tasmania where Labor believes it is supporting workers by not supporting the Liberal Party in its efforts to improve workplace protection legislation. It has cited other workers such as nurses and teachers as its concern but not forestry

The Federal Government has committed to retaining Australia’s Regional Forest Agreements and reject the Samuel Review’s criticism of them. Assistant Forestry Minister Jonathon Duniam told Senate Estimates yesterday he would not follow the recommendation of a statutory review of federa

Visitors to Timber Queensland’s head office used to be puzzled: there was no timber in sight. That paradox has now vanished, as TQ’s chief Mick Stephens noted at the opening of the new headquarters last Thursday, which was attended by more than 50 people. Source: Philip Hopkins for Ti

Shane Broad’s extraordinary attack on the Bob Brown Foundation cannot have gone down well in many quarters. In other quarters, it must have come as good news. In doing so Dr Broad, Tasmania’s Shadow Minister for Resources, well and truly nailed his colours to the mast. Source: Bruce M

Given the angst over the New South Wales SEPP plan and its impact on koalas and forestry and farming, the news this week that both sectors will be exempt must have come with a huge sigh of relief. Source: Bruce Mitchell Now land zoned for forestry or primary production in regional NSW

Land zoned for forestry or primary production in regional NSW will not be subject to the new State Environmental Planning Policy. Core rural zones in rural areas will be decoupled from the SEPP as new codes that protect koala habitat under the Local Land Services Act are developed ove

Everyone who works in Australia – actually anywhere – should have the right to expect to work in a safe environment free of risk of injury or harm – physical and/or mental. That unalienable right is even enshrined in legislation across the country. But that legislation is challenged o

Recruitment is set to commence for 50 more jobs created in Maryborough with Hyne Timber announcing a $14.5M expansion project. With demand for structural and engineered timber products on the increase, the 139-year-old, privately-owned Hyne Timber is investing for growth and increased

The University of Tasmania will require academic staff undergo training on the importance of research integrity and the disclosure of conflicts of interest. It follows the university’s investigation into the publication of a flawed study last year that linked forestry operations and b

There is an old saying that local governments should stick to handling roads, rates and rubbish and that’s it. But instead, in recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of councils across Australia and overseas involved in social, political and environmental causes. Source:

Police arrested four Bob Brown Foundation protestors in Tasmania’s Wentworth Hills on Monday after they stopped forestry activity at the site. The protestors had attached themselves to logging machinery. Source: Timberbiz It follows the arrest of two protesters at Artec’s woodch

Tasmania’s largest plantation forest manager, Forico, reaffirmed its commitment to fostering respect and transparent engagement with Tasmania’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities with the launch of its 2021-2022 Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). Source: Timberbiz Develo

In what can only be good news, timber harvesting is resuming on the South Coast of New South Wales and Eden. The news will come as a relief to the mills that have run out of logs to process and were close to laying off workers and closing. Source: Bruce Mitchell The news will also com

Forest & Wood Communities Australia has lodged an Incident Notification with WorkSafe Tasmania following the protest action at the Artec Mill on Friday. It is the second time this month FWCA has formally requested prosecutions of the Bob Brown Foundation by the work safety regulat

The latest five-storey mass engineered timber building to be constructed in Queensland topped out this week as the final prefabricated Glue Laminated Timber beams and Cross Laminated Timber panels were craned into position. Source: Timberbiz The NIOA facility extension in the Brisbane

It can be a bit hard to read the Bob Brown Foundation sometimes. At its best, the foundation is a masterful public relations manipulator. There is no doubt at about that. However, the latest “outrage” to come out of the organisation reaches new heights of audacity. Source: Bruce Mitch

  As part of International Day of Women and Girls in Science tomorrow Timber Queensland will be celebrating the work of its female scientists. Source: Timberbiz Clarissa Brandt, Strategic Relations & Communications Manager, Timber Queensland said the forest sector provided wo

The manufacturing union representing pulp and paper workers has slammed the Morrison Government for abandoning local workers during the COVID-19 jobs crisis by buying Indonesian paper instead of photocopy paper manufactured locally by Australian Paper in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. Sou

It was a “Gotcha” moment for Bob Brown. Despite throwing almost everything it could, his Bob Brown Foundation failed in its Federal Court bid to shut down the native timber industry in Tasmania. Source: Bruce Mitchell The court in its wisdom ruled that Tasmania’s Regional

Forest & Wood Communities Australia has formally requested prosecutions of the Bob Brown Foundation by the work safety regulator WorkSafe Tasmania. Source: Timberbiz The requests, made under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (Tas), are for the reckless and dangerous actions enga

Blair and Campbell Pty Ltd, a forest business that employs more than 10 staff in the East Gippsland area, has had to deal with uncertainty, unable to re-negotiate agreements with VicForests leaving them and their staff unable to plan for the future. Source: Timberbiz “The latest advic

South Australia had the first real bushfire of the season at the weekend. Sadly, homes and buildings were lost. Trees were lost. But it was short, sharp and brought under effective control through the efforts of Forestry SA, the CFS, crews from the Department of Environment and Water,

Trade Ministers for New Zealand and China have signed an upgrade to the free trade agreement between the two countries. New Zealand will have 98% free trade with China, its largest trading partner, once the existing free trade agreement comes fully into force. The upgrade has primaril

A large fire was burning out of control in the Adelaide Hills south east of Adelaide this morning. The blaze started about 4pm Sunday afternoon at Cherry Gardens, near the Scott Creek Conservation Park. There were reports of multiple ignition points. Source: Timberbiz It was burning i

The World Wildlife Fund seems a little confused over what logging is. Put simply, the WWF seems to have incorrectly lumped timber harvesting and private native forestry as contributing factors of deforestation and degradation. Source: Bruce Mitchell In a “shock, horror” statement, the

The local timber industry in the Snowy Valleys has been largely unaffected by the recent ban on New South Wales timber being imported to China. Source: Tumut and Adelong Times Just before Christmas, China suspended imports of timber from NSW and Western Australia, with local customs o

The World Wildlife Fund’s claims linking deforestation and forestry in Australia have been challenged by the Institute of Foresters. Source: Timberbiz “Land clearing or land-use change is when forests are converted for example to urban development and agriculture,” IFA President Bob G

There appears to be some movement in the China situation. Firstly, it appears there may be some response from China. That response – that China has notified the World Trade Organization that it will introduce new regulations covering anti-pest measures for timber imports, including th

Deputy Premier John Barilaro has ‘kissed and made up’ with Environment Minister Matt ‘Green’ Kean after taking time off on ‘stress leave’ last year. On Monday he told a reporter “I believe in climate change” and reportedly opened the door to shutting down logging of old-growth forest

Queensland’s $3.6bn timber industry is feeling the bite of Chinese trade sanctions with workers stood down and contractors racking up losses in the tens of millions of dollars. Source: Courier Mail Brisbane’s Courier Mail reported today China is virtually the only customer for Queensl

2021 seems to have got off to a reasonably good start with plans announced for a pellet plant on Kangaroo Island, a briquette plant at the Eden export facility and funding for Gippsland’s fire damaged road system. But the China problem just won’t go away. Source: Bruce Mitchell It’s C

China has still not responded to Federal Government and industry enquiries concerning contaminated log exports. Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said his department had formally written to Chinese authorities on two occasions seeking further information about detections of bark

The ABC’s Audience and Consumer Affairs Department has admitted that a recently published story made a series of errors which showed Australian forestry in a negative light. Justin Law, Managing Director of community group, Forest and Wood Communities Australia, made the complaint to

To say 2020 has been quite a year is a massive understatement. It has been a year like no other. That we appear to have come out the other end more-or-less intact is an understatement. Source: Bruce Mitchell There were too many lows this year to mention in detail or dwell upon at this

High-profile conservationist Bob Brown was arrested in Tasmania yesterday for trespassing on an active logging site. Protestors, apparently from the Bob Brown Foundation, halted logging in Tasmania’s North Eastern Tiers. Three people locked themselves onto a log loader. Source:

The effectiveness and cost of relying on water-bombing aircraft in fighting bushfires has been questioned by the Institute of Foresters of Australia and Australian Forest Growers. IFA/AGF president Bob Gordon made the call in response to the Queensland Government’s announcement of inq

The China situation worsened this week when a ban already in place on timber from Queensland and Victoria was extended to South Australia and Tasmania. Again, Chinese authorities claimed shipments were infected with pests, including bark beetle. Source: Bruce Mitchell Again, everyone

Legislation will be introduced in Federal Parliament today by Victorian Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie that will aim to provide certainty for Australia’s native hardwood timber industries. Source: Timberbiz Australian Forest Products Association CEO Mr Ross Hampton said Senator Mc

New research data backs the positive impact of buying local first and Aussie timber workers are saying thank you to all who played a part in keeping their jobs secure and their communities healthy during uncertain times. Source: Timberbiz It has been a tough year, but the Australian s

The Victorian State Government has been rightly condemned for taking so long to release timber burned in January’s bushfires in north-east Victoria and Gippsland. Yes, the burnt timber will be saved from going to waste through a grants program funded by the Federal Government and the

The Australian Forest Products Association wants the Victorian and Federal Governments to urgently co-operate to deliver new production tree plantings which would provide a boost to local jobs and post COVID-19 economic recovery while reducing emissions. Source: Timberbiz In July the

Plantation forestry participation in the Carbon Farming Initiative in south west Victoria will not cause a rapid expansion of plantation estate however, it will support the state’s emission reduction goals, a new Ernst & Young report has shown. Source: Timberbiz Ernst & Young’

Simon Gatt and his team at the new Gippsland Forest Industries Hub have a big job ahead of them. The new hub is one of 12 Regional Forestry Hubs announced by the Prime Minister Scott Morrison in February last year. Source: Bruce Mitchell The others are in Tasmania, Western Australia,

The Gippsland Forest Industries Hub has officially been launched and stands ready to contribute to the future of the forest and wood products industry in regional Victoria. The Gippsland forest and wood products industry is a dynamic and sustainable provider of regional employment in

TAFE Gippsland Timber Training Unit manager, Kevin Nunn, is now Australia’s VET Teacher/Trainer of the Year. The Bairnsdale-based teacher was announced as the winner of the VET Teacher/Trainer of the Year category in the 2020 Australian Training Awards, having secured the title of Vic

The total hard lockdown in South Australia to help prevent a second COVID-19 wave was only going to last six days. But what an impact it had in just two. And we’re not talking about having to stay home and not walk the dog or play golf. Source: Bruce Mitchell The lockdown had imposed

The Federal Government has been urged by a Portland business group to negotiate with China to ensure all Victorian timber log exports can resume as soon as possible. The call comes after China suspended the import of Victorian timber logs last week. Source: Timberbiz Chinese authoriti

Up to 500 forestry jobs could be lost in South Australia’s Green Triangle by Christmas if China’s ban on Victorian timber remains unresolved, according to the CFMEU. China is no longer accepting log exports from Victoria, citing concerns about the detection of live bark beetle in cons

So now China has placed an indefinite ban on imports of timber from Victoria. This is not surprising, and it would seem China has “legitimate” biosecurity reasons for imposing the ban. Source: Bruce Mitchell Chinese authorities claimed shipments were infected with the live bark beetle

The Australian Forest Products Association has congratulated Ed Husic on his appointment as Australia’s Shadow Agriculture Minister following the resignation this week of Joel Fitzgibbon. Source: Timberbiz AFPA CEO Ross Hampton said the AFPA looked forward to working with Mr Husic and

Reports of a ban by China on imports of Australian timber as well as lobster, copper, sugar, wine and coal mooted last week and set to begin on Saturday seems to have so far done little more than create anxiety and rumours among exposed businesses. Source: Timberbiz There were no imme

Everyone seems to be holding his or her collective breaths right now. There are lots of rumours, little real facts. Lots of speculation and predictions, but no definitive information. This applies to just about everything; the pandemic and the opening of State borders, China’s bans on

Australia’s $1.6 billion timber export business with China could come to an abrupt halt Friday after unconfirmed instructions from Chinese customs authorities. Also under threat is Australian wine, copper, barley, coal, sugar, and lobster. Source: Timberbiz The notice, distributed by

The Bushfire Royal Commission’s recommendations released Friday have been labelled as everything from underwhelming to common sense and overdue. In its report, the Commission made 80 recommendations to improve Australia’s national natural disaster arrangements. Source: Timberbiz Among

Timber Queensland has certainly put in the work in the lead-up to Saturday’s Queensland election. And in doing so, they may have set something of a benchmark for other State timber organisations to follow, if they haven’t already. Source: Bruce Mitchell By formulating a five-point pla

The Auditor-General has cast doubts on the Victorian Government’s ‘Safer Together’ bushfire policy, citing insufficient information to judge its effectiveness, while the amount of prescribed burns is well below target. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The Auditor-Generals’ ‘Reduci

The Bush Fire Royal Commission must not simply audit and implement the last 58 inquiries, reviews and Royal Commissions on the issue, if it wants to see meaningful forest management in Australia according to the Institute of Foresters. Source: Timberbiz On the eve of the Commission br

Tumbarumba is in trouble. Big trouble. To be more specific Hyne’s Tumbarumba Mill is in trouble, and that means the entire district is in trouble. Put simply, there is just not enough timber to go around following last summer’s bushfires which decimated 40% of Hyne’s local log supply

The Queensland hardwood timber industry is concerned that rising native log exports are eroding opportunities to grow local jobs and the economic benefits generated from downstream processing and value adding. Source: Timberbiz “There are significant opportunities for growth in our ha

The Victorian State Government’s announcements around timber plantations in Eastern Victoria have been described as hollow and doing nothing for security of the local industry. Source: Timberbiz “When you have the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU), slammi

Someone needs to tell the Victorian State Government how long it takes trees to grow. In fact, someone needs to really tell the Victorian State Government about trees in general. Because as has been mentioned before, it isn’t listening. Source: Bruce Mitchell The Victorian Government

VicForests has responded to media criticism attacking its failure to be granted FSC status. VicForests reported last week results from an audit taken in November last year, but that was not completed because of the impacts of the coronavirus, remaining challenges arising from last sum

An expression of interest released by the Victorian State Government has shown the plan to transition native timber to plantation by 2030 is a false promise for those in the industry, according to Assistant Shadow Minister for Forestry Gary Blackwood. Source: Timberbiz Mr Blackwood sa

The Victorian State Government is certainly getting busy spruiking its transition plans and projects to “compensate” for its closure of the native timber industry by 2030. Last week it was a new state-owned nursery growing, apparently, Mountain Ash seedlings for bushfire affected area

Sustainable Timber Tasmania has agreed to pause forestry activity in 19 coupes in Tasmania, effective immediately. The Bob Brown Foundation launched legal action two weeks ago against STT, claiming its logging of native forests in Tasmania did not accord with the Regional Forest Agree

The Victorian State Government has committed $3.5 million to upgrades to the Maryvale rail siding in Gippsland to ensure products from Australian Paper’s Gippsland mill will continue to be sent by rail for years to come. Source: Timberiz Sleepers and ballasts will be replaced, and gro

So, the Victorian Government’s transition plan for Eastern Gippsland post the end of native timber logging in 2030 is to create a new state-owned nursery growing, apparently, mountain Ash seedlings for bushfire affected areas and then blue gum for pulp. Source: Bruce Mitchell Planning

A protest which disrupted operations at Helms forest near Nannup in Western Australia has been described as little more than a publicity stunt in the lead-up to the State elections in March next year. Source: Timberbiz Employees of a family-owned logging contractor were forced to stop

The Tasmanian forest industry’s new peak body has raised concerns that the Bob Brown Foundation’s legal action, if successful, will totally destroy forestry across all tenures (public and private land), including native forests and plantations, in the state. Source: Timberbiz “What we

The various reviews, inquires and commissions into the nation’s devastating 2019-2020 bushfires seem to be having some mixed, if not conflicting results. The South Australian Government is to be applauded for biting the bullet and committing $100 million to increase hazard reduction b

AKD will recommence operations at its Irrewarra sawmilling site to provide more Australian produced timber for customers, and to provide employment opportunities in the Colac region.  Source: Timberbiz In May because of CoVid-19, the business made the decision to idle its Irrewarra sa

At a time when good news can be a bit hard to find, Alliance Timber’s decision to extend its Dartmoor operations in the Green Triangle is a tiny ray of light. Source: Bruce Mitchell The Alliance Timber Group’s Dartmoor mill site is looking to extend its opening hours to 6am to 10pm se

Dartmoor looks set to receive a major boost with one of the area’s largest employers eyeing off a significant expansion. Source: Hamilton Spectator Alliance Timber Group is looking to significantly boost its workforce at the same time it also received two unexpected boosts from the co

VicForests has lodged its appeal in the Full Federal Court following the Federal Court’s Orders relating to the Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum case. The appeal papers were lodged late last Friday. Source: Timberbiz Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries Jonno Duniam has welcome

It’s one thing to offer a solution to a problem. It’s another thing to deliver the solution. And the Victorian Government has been caught out failing to deliver to the state’s native timber industry, again. Source: Bruce Mitchell This time it’s the revelation that rather than planting

If you’ve a timber yard, or driven past a timber truck, you’ve seen the rows upon rows of stacked timber, all cut to uniform lengths and widths. Have you ever wondered why we’re so fixated on this uniformity, rather than embracing the natural variation or ‘imperfections’ in timber tha

The family-owned 138-year-old Hyne Timber company is continuing to call for government support to direct Australian saw logs destined for China to their mill in Tumbarumba. Source: Timberbiz Chief Executive Officer Jon Kleinschmidt said employees and the community were increasingly co

So, a peer-reviewed scientific paper, written by Professor James Kirkpatrick, Suyanti Winoto-Lewin and Jenny Sanger from the University of Tasmania’s Discipline of Geography and Spatial Sciences, has been retracted from the MDPI journal Fire. The journal has apologised to its readers.

FSC Australia is under pressure over governance issues, with FSC headquarters in Germany believed to have threatened to deregister the Australian branch or appoint an administrator if the local certification body does not get its act together. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The

A scientific paper that was the basis of an opinion piece by Professor James Kirkpatrick claiming that timber harvesting makes forests more flammable has been withdrawn from academic publication because it contains errors. Source: Philip Hopkins The peer-reviewed paper, written by Pro

The Federal and State governments, understandably, have a lot on their minds. Apart from running the country – a big enough job by any measure – they have had to handle a pandemic and in New South Wales’ and Victoria’s case the recovery from the bushfires. Source: Bruce Mitchell To th

OneFortyOne Plantations’ CEO Linda Sewell has resigned effective almost immediately. She will finish on Friday. In a statement yesterday board chairman John S Gilleland said the news came with “regret but also great respect and support for Linda in her decision”. Source: Timberbiz “Af

VicForests will move quickly to lodge an appeal now the Federal Court has finalised its Orders relating to the Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum case. Strict conditions to stop logging of threatened species habitat in Victoria’s Central Highlands were issued by the Federal Court on Frida

Last week we suggested that the conservation lobby had changed tactics in its battle to shut down the native timber industry in this country. That, it seems, was something of an understatement. Source: Bruce Mitchell To say that today’s news that the Bob Brown Foundation has launched

Tasmania’s Forest Products Association (TFPA) has backed Sustainable Timber Tasmania’s sustainable forest management practices following the public release of its Forest Stewardship Council Australia audit report, which found STT met almost all FSC indicators applicable to it. Source:

Wodonga-based national transport company SCT Logistics will transport millions of tonnes of plantation timber burnt in NSW during the summer bushfires that would otherwise go to waste, thanks to support from the Victorian Government.  Source: Timberbiz Minister for Regional Developmen

It’s an understatement to say that CoVid-19 has disrupted the entire world. No country is immune. It is of course virulent, disruptive, debilitating and deadly. It is also a distraction. Source: Bruce Mitchell Australia’s attention has been fixed on the daily press briefings detailing

More time and wider eligibility have been given to primary producers impacted by the 2019-20 bushfires to apply for the $75,000 Special Disaster Grant. Small businesses have also been given more time to request support, with time frames extended for small business bushfire recovery gr

VicForests is seeking stakeholder and community comment on its proposed Timber Release Plan (TRP) and Timber Utilisation Plan (TUP) changes. The TRP and TUP identify potential timber harvesting areas for the coming years and are being prepared as part of VicForests’ regular planning p

The protestors are back, frustrating timber industry workers in New South Wales and Western Australia and leaving others in Tasmania slightly bemused. And then there is the Wilderness Society which has taken its aim to shut down the native timber industry in Australia to the world. Th

Claims by the Bob Brown Foundation that Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) plan to harvest giant trees and shut the Styx road in mid-August, are a new low according to Tasmania’s Resources Minister Guy Barnett. Source: Timberbiz “Facts have never been high on the agenda for environment

Logging has been stopped at Bagawa State Forest this morning. It is the fourth time logging has been halted on the NSW Mid North Coast over the past six weeks by the Gumbaynggirr Conservation Group (GCG). Source: Timberbiz One individual is in a tree attached to two machines, effectiv

VicForests has launched a strong attack on FSC Australia, calling for the sacking of three Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) directors for allegedly breaching FSC standards and damaging FSC’s reputation, in a letter of complaint to the certification body’s international headquarters in

A former Tasmanian MP who twice voted in favour of tough anti-protest laws says she is now prepared to join the protest against Bunnings. Former Braddon Liberal member Joan Rylah, who announced her retirement on Monday morning, said on her Facebook page that “if Bunnings try to pull t

The protests this week against Bunnings’ decision to refuse to stock Victorian timber sourced from VicForests was well organised and well supported. The Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union’s blockade at Traralgon was inspired. Source: Bruce Mitchell Anyone who has e

Four log trucks this morning blocked the entrance to the Bunnings store at Traralgon in defence of forestry jobs. A Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) statement this morning said the trucks were blocking the entrance to the Bunnings’ car park in protest of

Every year, since 2007, forestry resource managers, remote sensing, GIS and mapping specialists, inventory foresters, researchers and key technology suppliers from across Australasia attend the forestry technology series, ForestTECH. Source: Timberbiz It has now well and truly establi

Just about everyone will be, at some stage, the victim of “spin”. It’s a given. Not all spin is bad, if the benefits described by the sender of the message are real and truly add value to the receiver of the message. Source: Bruce Mitchell Spinning becomes dysfunctional when the sende

COVID-19 has meant conferences, exhibitions, seminars and symposiums have been cancelled, postponed or rescheduled. But conferences and exhibitions have an important role to play in any industry. To fill that void, Australasian Timber Magazine with Frame Australia will publish a Timbe

A world-first robotic innovation that scans and measures export logs on trucks has landed its Kiwi developers on the 2020 RBR50, Robotics Business Review’s prestigious global list recognising the 50 most innovative and transformative robotics companies of the year. Source: Timberbiz T

It probably seems a little incongruous that fire brigades are getting ready in July for the bushfire “season” some five or so months away. It’s a regular exercise. Organisations such as the Forestry Corporation of NSW each year put their firefighters through fitness tests to ensure th

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has welcomed the announcement by the Federal Government that it will invest in Australia’s waste and recycling capacity and help enable more wastepaper and cardboard to be recycled domestically. Source: Timberbiz The Morrison Governmen

Over the coming months, the market will start to see AKD products being wrapped in a new plastic design. AKD has always been Australian grown and made, but the company believes it is timely to ensure this is understood and prominent in its supply chain and particularly in customers’ y

What a week it has been for the timber industry, capped off by the Climate Solutions Fund decision by the Federal Government. In a nutshell, the decision will simplify access to carbon funding for new forestry projects in five regional forestry hubs, including communities hard hit by

An easing in residential construction and increased export uncertainty loom as major challenges for forestry and wood processors in the wake of summer’s bushfires and COVID-19, according to an ABARES Insights report released yesterday. Source: Timberbiz The analysis of effects of bush

VicForests is seeking feedback on the proposed changes to its Timber Release Plan. The TRP change proposes an additional 59 new coupes in the Benalla-Mansfield, North-East and Tambo Forest Management Areas. Source: Timberbiz VicForests CEO Monique Dawson says that as part of this chan

There are signs the timber industry is getting organized for a fight in Victoria. Well, better organized. The Australian Forest Products Association started the ball rolling some time ago working at times with joint media releases with the Victorian Association of Forest Industries (V

All Victoria’s processors of hardwood timber have formed a new association to fight the Victorian State Government’s decision to shut the native forest industry. The Victorian Hardwood Sawmillers Association maintains the decision will lead to huge job losses and damage or decimate th

A national study is underway to identify the wood resource characteristics of private forest estates (private native forests and farm forests) and indigenous managed forests suitable for commercial uses. Source: Timberbiz Led by the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Econom

Some great news for the timber industry in general this week has been tempered by the bad news still coming out of East Gippsland. The Buy Australian Timber First campaign sees a much-welcomed united push from all the big operators – AKD, Boral, Hyne, OneFortyOne, Timberlink and Wespi

The House Standing Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources has launched an inquiry into timber supply chain constraints in the Australian plantation sector. Australia’s forest productions manufacturing sector is worth more than $23 billion each year and currently, Australian plan

Victorian Federal Coalition MPs are seeking a meeting this week with the Environment Minister, Sussan Ley, urging her to override a Federal Court decision that threatens the future of the native forestry industry. Source: Timberbiz – Philip Hopkins Gippsland MP Darren Chester, who has

There is no escaping some issues, they resurface over and over but despite very learned reports, researched and written by very learned men and women knee jerk reactions remain – of course I am talking about our Leadbeater’s possum. Clearly cute but clearly not as endangered as we are

Forest industry icon Rob de Fegely was honoured in the Queen’s Birthday Honours with a Member of the Order of Australia for “Significant service to the forestry industry through business and advisory roles.” Source: Timberbiz Tasmanian Minister Guy Barnett congratulated Mr de Fegely s

There seems to have been wins all-round this week for foresters, the building industry, and the Australian Forest Products Association. Starting with the AFPA, it had a big win over the ABC with a complaint of unbalanced reporting and biased coverage being upheld. Source: Bruce Mitche

A complaint of unbalanced reporting and biased coverage of the Victorian Regional Forest Agreement made by AFPA has been upheld by the ABC. In early April ABC Radio Melbourne interviewed a member of the Goongera Environment Centre which was highly critical of the recently re-signed Vi

The Western Australian state government’s latest “foolhardy” experiment with outsourcing forest industry governance to activists has blown up in the face of Environment Minister Stephen Dawson. Source: Timberbiz That’s the view of the state’s peak timber industry body, the Forest Indu

It’s hard not to applaud Liberal Senator Claire Chandler’s call for the Bob Brown Foundation’s charity status to be revoked. What has irked the Tasmanian Senator is the foundation’s online funding page which seeks tax-deductible donations for its activism. This, she says, should be th

Log exports from New Zealand fell sharply in April 2020 after logging operations were suspended during alert level 4, but average prices per cubic metre picked up according to Stats NZ. Source: Timberbiz In contrast, dairy and fruit exports were strong despite fears of port congestion

A housing stimulus plan that includes $40,000 cash grants for people building a new property as its centrepiece has been released by the Master Builders Association (MBA). Current industry forecasting indicates new home building will fall by almost 50%, putting half a million jobs at

It is surprisingly hard to put into words the bastardry being inflicted on Tasmania’s mill operators. Spikes have been found in several trees at two Tasmanian sawmills leaving political parties at loggerheads over who is responsible for the industrial sabotage. Source: Bruce Mitchell

The Australian Forest Products Association has doubled down on its call for an urgent housing stimulus package with the latest Housing Industry Association forecasting, released today, showing a devastating decline in new housing construction. Source: Timberbiz The forecasting indicat

With COVID-19 front and centre of industry challenges right now and for the foreseeable future, there has never been a greater need for the latest news and information to be delivered to the forests and timber industry sectors. Ryan Media, as an independent and Australian-owned media

It’s fair to say that everyone agrees there is a lot of work to be done for Australia to come out of the CoVid-19 fog economically as well off as possible. Well, almost everyone. But more on that later. Source: Bruce Mitchell So, it’s great to see Allied Natural Wood Exports (AWNE) ha

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has welcomed the inclusion of $15 million in freight support for burnt timber, as part of the National Bushfire Industry Recovery Package announced today but urges more is needed to help the industry recover. Source: Timberbiz In annou

Shadow Assistant Minister for Forestry, Gary Blackwood, is calling on Victoria’s Police Minister Lisa Neville to confirm if forestry protesters will be fined under strict COVID-19 Stay-at-Home directions. Source: Timberbiz Mr Blackwood said a number of protests in recent weeks had gre

The laws, restrictions and even the recommendations introduced to combat the spread of Covid-19 are, to most intelligent people, pretty clear. Don’t leave home unless you need to. Very simply put you can go to work, you can seek medical help, you can shop, and you can exercise sensibl

The State Government in Victoria has been slammed following a report that indicates East Gippsland – because of the bushfires and Covid-19 – will be the hardest hit region economically in the coronavirus fallout. The State Opposition says the report highlights the need to retain the n

Australasia’s newest fibre packaging and paper company was launched on 1 May 2020 after Nippon Paper Industries confirmed it had successfully completed its $1.72 billion acquisition of the Orora Fibre Businesses that have been combined with Australian Paper to form Opal. Source: Timbe

It’s not hard to see the importance of the Federal seat of Eden-Monaro. It has long been held up as a bellwether seat; from the 1972 election until the 2013 election, Eden-Monaro was won by the party that also won the election. During that time, all of its sitting members were defeate

The organisers of AUSTimber 2020 have rescheduled this year’s event over CoVid-19 concerns and will now work on delivering the event in November 2021. Source: Timberbiz It was planned for April this year, and then was postponed until November because of the bushfires in the Gippsland

The global spread of COVID-19 is making the short-term outlook for Australia’s agricultural sectors increasingly uncertain according to the ABARES Impacts of COVID-19 on Australian agriculture, forestry and fisheries trade report. Source: Timberbiz ABARES Actng Executive Director, Pet

The timber industry in its various forms is justifiably nervous about the impact of the COVID-19 virus. The virus has been described as a wrecking ball for the house construction industry, with the impact hitting the timber manufacturing sector. Source: Bruce Mitchell Manufacturers of

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) is forecasting a “calamitous decline” in housing construction and says an urgent recovery package is needed. The AFPA is calling on Australia’s leaders to urgently put in place a stimulus recovery package for the sector to counter the

John Deere Construction and Forestry Equipment has a new home at two of New Zealand’s most respected machinery dealers to bring a greater range of sought-after machinery and cutting-edge technology to operators and contractors across the country. Source: Timberbiz From 1 July, the ful

For almost four weeks now, pubs, cinemas, restaurants, and indoor sports have been closed. Concerts, festivals, sports, weddings have been cancelled. Churches are closed. Only 10 people can attend funerals. We all seem focused on COVID-19 as we should be. But life does go on. Source:

Australia’s new house building pipeline appears to be stable in mid-April, with construction work able to continue in most situations. The rush by builders to complete work to the next payment stage, over concern of an imminent sector or site closure is reportedly following through th

People illegally cutting down protected redgum and stringybark trees from Green Triangle plantations are being warned the ‘forest is watching’. Police and forest landowners have joined forces to target reckless wood thieves who are fearlessly entering privately owned forestry estates

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons is stepping down as head of the volunteer organisation to take on a new government role. Source: Timberbiz Mr Fitzsimmons was RFS Commissioner for 12 years and his decision to leave comes after overseeing an unprecedented 2019-2020

This week marked the official end to the most devastating bush fire season in New South Wales’ history. Nationally the fire season, which is still in force in Victoria and South Australia, was unprecedented in terms of conditions experienced, the loss of lives and property, and the th

The peak associations representing Victoria’s sustainable native timber industries have cautiously welcomed today’s announcement of the Regional Forest Agreements extension, but still believe considerable uncertainty surrounds the Andrews Government’s plan to close down the industry b

Claims have been made by the Wilderness Society that paper Australians are printing on is produced from illegally sourced wood taken from Victoria’s state forests. In particular, the Wilderness Society has claimed that Nippon-owned Australian Paper has illegally processed more than ha

If a week is a long time in politics, then 24 hours is an even longer time in a world effectively shut down by COVID-19. There is the occasional trickle of good news, but that is rare. This current crisis comes on the heels of the devastating bushfires during December and January and

Australia’s timber mills are continuing to operate during the COVID-19 lockdown as normal and will do so until ordered otherwise. Building sites have been already been deemed essential activities by the Federal Government, spared from the tight restrictions placed on restaurants, pubs

A number of substantial challenges confront the timber industry in Australia and in New Zealand. Daily Timber News, and Timberbiz, have been challenged in covering the Victorian Native Timber decision, the State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) issue in New Sou

We have all become almost immune to government inertia at nearly every level. But some governments – well, one in particular – seem to have made an art form out of it. If you could call it art. To quote Yes, Minister it’s more the art of jiggery-pokery. Source: Bruce Mitchell The Oppo

Australian Sustainable Hardwoods has commissioned its new $3 million timber manufacturing plant in Heyfield. The centrepiece of the new plant at ASH’s Greenmill in Firebrace Road is a high-strain twin band resaw, which uses German sawing technology to maximise the amount of useable ti

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements has begun receiving public submissions. Individuals, organisations, community groups and the broader community can make a submission about the 2019-20 bushfire season by telephone or online. Source: Timberbiz The Federal

Central Victoria’s first planned burn of 2020 will take place on Wednesday in the first of about 30 burns planned before next season’s fire danger period. Forest Fire Management Victoria will burn 81 hectares two kilometres to the west of St Arnaud at the town’s Towe

Victorian Government MPs will face flying pickets, mass community meetings and rolling stoppages as timber workers ramp up their campaign to highlight the turmoil facing the industry. The crisis facing the forestry sector escalated last week after a court injunction halted harvesting

In a week when the industry as a whole seemed to take a deep breath, there were three or four events of note. In Tasmania, the State Government has made a clear and bold decision to legislate for mechanical fuel reduction to tackle bushfires. Source: Bruce Mitchell Premier Peter Gutwe

The ACCC will not oppose the proposed acquisition of Orora Fibre by Australian Paper. Australian Paper is the only independent, non-vertically integrated, domestic supplier of certain paper packaging inputs made from kraft fibre. Source: Timberbiz Following the proposed acquisition, i

Victorian taxpayers will pay $200 million to the privately-owned Australian Paper in Maryvale to try to shield workers from a state ban on native forest logging, according to the Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne. Source: Herald Sun The secret deal between the Andrews Government and A

So much is happening, and the scene is changing daily from so many different directions. It can be difficult to keep up, but here we go. It is clear the Coronavirus, or perhaps more accurately the COVID-19 virus, cannot be ignored by Australia’s timber industry. By Bruce Mitchell Whil

The Bob Brown Foundation has lodged a court appeal against a ban on forest protests. Worksafe Tasmania boss Mark Cocker last week issued a ban on protest activities deemed to be a safety risk until further notice, with the threat of potential fines up to $500,000. Source: Timberbiz Th

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) and Forest Industries Association of Tasmania (FIAT) have welcomed the Work Health and Safety Regulator’s “common-sense decision” to order the Bob Brown Foundation to cease all illegal forestry protests, which have endangered lives and

So, there is to be a Royal Commission in the summer’s exhausting bushfire. That’s got to be a good thing, right? There is so much to be explored by the Royal Commission which, as the Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised in January, will be quick. Not a long-winded, strung-out junket

Adrian O’Connell, Standards Australia’s Chief Executive Officer and Karen Andrews MP, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology announced a joint funding agreement for access to AS 3959:2018, Construction of buildings in bushfire-prone areas, for all Australians. This jointly fund

The Victorian Government is in talks to sell its $61 million share in the Heyfield mill in Gippsland. The State Government bought a minority share in the privately-owned Heyfield mill in 2017 after the then-owner threatened to close its doors. Source: Timberbiz Deputy Premier James Me

To paraphrase former US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, the timber industry in Australia and New Zealand currently have some known knowns, and some unknown unknowns. To put it another way, the timber industry hopes it has a future, it just isn’t certain of what that future looks

The Victorian State Government is still refusing to release bushfire fuel load maps for Victoria, despite an order from State Parliament to make the documents public. The maps, published in August, show the build-up of fuel loads across East Gippsland and North East Victoria. Source:

VicForests has committed to the continued support of 10 contractors and 90 workers who have been impacted by a force majeure notice because fires have meant timber supply cannot be guaranteed in the foreseeable future from East Gippsland. Source: Timberbiz Almost all – estimated to be

There is now no denying it. The Victorian timber industry is under siege from all fronts. Even VicForests seems to have turned against it. By Bruce Mitchell This week alone has seen: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews hint that the Government “may well have to revise” its plan to shut d

The operator of a private farm near Portland in Victoria, where at least 40 koalas have reportedly died and 80 others were reportedly found injured, has defended his management of the property, as Victoria’s state government launches an investigation into the incident. Source: Timberb

Kangaroo Island Plantation Timber’s (KIPT) managing director John Sergeant is disappointed that the island’s mayor Michael Pengilly is criticizing the timber industry rather than working with it to create that future. Mr Sergeant was commenting on an item on the ABC’s Landline program

South Buchan logging contractor Reece Reynolds has been putting in 11-hour days to help contain the fires which continue to threaten East Gippsland. He is one of many forestry contractors who have put their machines to work around the clock in the effort to clear roads, remove hazardo

High Country Truss & Frames and Dahlsens have also joined the efforts to help with the bushfire recovery in New South Wales and Victoria respectively. Source: Timberbiz Owners David and Elizabeth van der Plaat from High Country Truss & Frames have been helping transport feed t

Leading forest and ecosystem scientists from the University of Melbourne have backed the scientific merit of forest thinning to reduce the risk and severity of bushfires in Australia, refuting the strident activist voices demanding Australia make no change to its fuel reduction strate

Alpine Truss Wangaratta has donated $15,000 to assist with bushfire recovery in North East Victoria, some of which will go towards stationery packs to help children get back to school. Basic necessities such as the back to school packs for children will take a load off parents’

This week’s decision to postpone AUSTimber2020 until November because of the devastating bushfires in East Gippsland has been met with wide-spread industry and community support. The decision to reschedule AUSTimber2020 from April required careful consideration of the impact on commit

Firefighters in Eastern Australia are capitalising on calmer weather conditions forecast for the rest of this week with authorities still unable to accurately assess the damage to harvestable timber stocks. Source: Timberbiz In Victoria, where fires have burned an estimated 1.2 millio

Pressure is mounting on State governments to better manage national parks through hazard reduction burning and selective logging, to avoid a repeat of the bushfire crisis sweeping the nation. Fires yesterday in extreme conditions continued to threaten areas in south eastern  NSW, east

There are fears two massive bushfires burning on the NSW-Victorian border could join in coming days, creating one massive fire front. CFA state response controller Gavin Freeman said there was a “real potential” the fires burning along the state border could combine. The Corryong fire

Tens of thousands of voters in regional Victoria have received robocalls over the past 48 hours, highlighting Labor’s betrayal of timber workers, their families and timber communities. Source: Timberbiz The calls feature a timber worker and Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and En

The peak industry bodies representing scores of businesses that employ thousands of men and women in the front line to be impacted by Premier Andrews’ poor policy announcement to shut down Victoria’s native timber industry are seriously questioning the government’s commitment to engag

A $20.35 million road funding grant applied for by the Softwoods Working Group (SWG) under the NSW Government’s Growing Local Economies Program has been successful. SWG Chair Peter Crowe said the grant was tremendous news for the regional economy. Source: Timberbiz The $20.35 million

The Victorian State Government has been slammed for its appalling devaluation of native timber industry workers. The Nationals Member for Eastern Victoria Region Melina Bath said a State Government statement boasted Labor’s funding of $744 million for level crossings in Edithvale, Che

VicForests is inviting the community to learn more about proposed changes to the Timber Release Plan (TRP) 2019 at an Open House in Traralgon on 11 December 2019. Regular revision of the TRP is an important part of VicForests’ routine planning for timber harvesting in Victoria’s east.

Federal Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Resources Joel Fitzgibbon has strongly backed Victoria’s native forest industries as sustainable, this is at odds with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews who plans to shut it down. Source: Timberbiz Speaking at the Australian Forest Products A

At the protest rally held in Melbourne on Tuesday 26 November outside Parliament House, the leader of the Victorian opposition, Michael O’Brien, stated that he would instigate an inquiry into the closing down of the native forestry industry in Victoria. The proposed Legislative Counci

  Victoria’s opposition leader, Michael O’Brien speaking at the first of what may be many such protests, stated that he would put the facts on the table about native forestry in Victoria and his party would push for an upper house inquiry in 2020. The proposed Legislative Council

Representatives from Gippsland’s native timber industry have agreed to fight for the future of the industry and are calling for an urgent meeting with the State Premier following a meeting in Bairnsdale this week with local, state and federal government representatives. Source: Timber

Not surprisingly no Victorian Labor politician showed his face at the Victorian Association of Forestry Industries (VAFI) awards dinner held on Friday 15 November in Melbourne. However, the number of opposition politicians was impressive including long time timber industry supporter M

The Andrews Government in Victoria on Wednesday voted down a motion in State Parliament seeking support for the native timber industry. The Nationals Member for Eastern Victoria Region Melina Bath who raised the motion said the Andrews Government would go down as the most anti-regiona

Corryong sawmill operator and pallet manufacturer Graham Walker received a letter in October from Victoria’s Minister for Regional Development, Agriculture and Resources Jaclyn Symes good enough to take to the bank. In fact, he did. The letter recommended he continue to work with VicF

Yesterday’s announcement that native timber logging in Victoria will be phased out by 2030 has left the industry in shock and people in regional areas such as Gippsland reeling.The State Government in Victoria revealed its plans yesterday for the current level of native timber availab

Logging of native trees will be phased out in Victoria by 2030. Source: Timberbiz The State Government in Victoria revealed its plans today for the current level of native timber available for logging to be reduced from 2024-25. It has been reported a financial assistance package for

OneFortyOne’s Jubilee Sawmill has been recognised for its commitment to the timber industry with the Supreme Timber Industry Award at the Green Triangle Timber Industry Awards (GTTIA). Source: Timberbiz In front of a sell-out 500-plus audience on Friday night Jubilee Sawmill – OneFort

Victoria’s Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio has been urged to read and use data from a Gippsland Youth Symposium’s Future of our Forests report. But State MLC Melina Bath, who represents Victoria’s eastern region, said she did not expect the Minister to read the document. So

An Australian forest industries delegation to Japan accompanying the Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries Senator Jonathan Duniam will build a stronger relationship and help expand the market for high-quality Australian forest products, Chief Executive Officer of the Australi

OneFortyOne (OFO) has made its submission to the SA Legislative Council Select Committee on Matters Relating to the Timber Industry in the Limestone Coast. Chief executive officer, Linda Sewell, stated that the company had responded to the question of whether the export of wood fibre

The Annual Australian Timber Design Award winners for 2019 were announced recently in Melbourne and fitzpatrick + partners claimed first prize for their stunning Castlecrag home aptly named The Seed House. Source: Timberbiz The Seed House blends in seamlessly with the surrounding bush

Responsible Wood, Australia’s largest forest certification scheme, has announced that the University of South Australia’s Mount Gambier Campus will be hosting its Annual General Meeting next Tuesday, 22 October 2019. Source:  Timberbiz Responsible Wood will be awarding the coveted Ric

Nippon Paper Industries (Nippon Paper) has announced an agreement with Orora Limited to acquire its Australia and New Zealand fibre packaging division. The contract was signed following the Nippon Paper board of directors meeting held in Tokyo, Japan. The purchase will be subject to f

Concerns have been raised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over a proposed sale of Tasmanian hardwood plantations owned by Resource Management Service to New Forests and Global Forest Partners. Source: Timberbiz Resource Management Service has made its plan

Young people in Gippsland came together last week for a regional symposium on the future of our forests. Organised by Shadow Assistant Minister for Public Land and The Nationals Member for Eastern Victoria Region, Melina Bath, the day was an opportunity for young Gippslanders to have

The Victorian State Government has cancelled its community consultation process into reforms to the code of practice for timber production. State Environment Minister Lily D’Ambosio took the odd step of announcing the community engagement on the code through a release on Twitter. Sour

The Forest Industries Association of Tasmania (FIAT) has made no request for access to log native Tasmanian forests despite reports of a potential short-fall in supply. FIAT acting chief executive Terry Edwards said all the industry has requested was an assessment of 357,000ha of fore

A new report by the World Green Building Council (WGBC) has highlighted the huge potential of timber product building solutions to reduce emissions in Australia’s built environment. Source: Timberbiz The report, Bringing Embodied Carbon Upfront, says renewable timber products will pla

VicForests has launched a radical policy on native forest operations that involves revised harvesting and regeneration techniques as part of its campaign to achieve FSC certification. The policy centres on preserving “high conservation value” (HCV) native forest and removing perceived

Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) is working to uncover new opportunities in the detached housing market, with the development of a technical extension program that will encourage the use of wood products in residential Class 1 properties.  Source: Timberbiz The recently launc

A new approach to tech transfer and skills development was delivered through a workshop to help the softwood sector improve its understanding of how to better use the massive quantities of data collected during mill operations, with a view to improving processing activities. Source: T

Record temperatures globally over the past few years have generated unprecedented high Forest Fire Danger Index conditions. These conditions have extended the duration of the traditional fire season in many regions and, of more concern, have been the catalyst for losses in regions not

The NSW Government is looking at the “viability” of a long-term lease of the State’s commercial softwood plantation business, consistent with its asset recycling strategy. Forestry Corporation’s profitable softwood division consists of around 230,000 hectares of radiata pine forests p

Margules Groome Consulting’s Rob de Fegely has been awarded the NW Jolly Medal for his services to the Australian forest industry at an Australian and New Zealand Institute of Forestry conference in Christchurch. Source: Timberbiz Mr de Fegely is also chairman of Sustainable Timber Ta

The Victorian Association of Forest Industries Inc. (VAFI) has called for immediate action from the State Government after a protest in a timber harvesting coupe in Kinglake has again stopped forest contractors from making a living. Source: Timberbiz VAFI CEO, Tim Johnston, said the G

The Australian public must be protected through safe, compliant buildings and that will only be achieved through buy-in by everyone involved in the building and construction industry and with everyone being accountable for their own work, a NSW upper house inquiry has been told. Sourc

Up to 4500 hectares of red gum forest, fringing creeks, wetland and habitat will be replenished over the next 60 days thanks to a planned watering event in the Koondrook and Perricoota State Forests. Source: Timberbiz Forestry Corporation of NSW’s The Living Murray Program Manager for

The Queensland State Government has been urged to reject an “absurd, outrageous and highly destructive proposal to close our pine plantations”. Gympie MP and opposition spokesman for agricultural industry development and fisheries and forestry Tony Perrett was responding to a proposal

Sustainable timber harvesting is not a significant threat to koalas in New South Wales, a State Government inquiry has been told. The Forestry Corporation of NSW told the Inquiry into koala populations and habitat in New South Wales last week that known threats to koala populations ar

Western Australia has joined Tasmania to become the second state government to adopt a state-wide Wood Encouragement Policy (WEP). A WEP requires responsibly sourced wood be considered, where feasible, as the primary construction material in all new-build and refurbishment projects. S

An intergovernmental report on climate change released late last week highlights the need for a whole-of-landscape approach to tackling climate change, and the vital role the agriculture and forestry sector can play in reducing emissions and storing carbon, according to Climate Proofi

Australian Paper is moving ahead with its five-year, $200 million capital investment program at its Maryvale paper mill in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. The company committed $51 million in the second year of the program to upgrade key strategic infrastructure, according to AP’s 2018 Sus

A big deficit in the supply of hardwood woodchips is expected in the Asia-Pacific in the next three-to-five years, with demand in China, already the world’s biggest importer, expected to continue growing, according to Australian forestry giant Midway Group. Source: Philip Hopkins for

People in Victoria’s regions are far more interested maintaining jobs and economic opportunities from the state’s forests than people in the city, according to early feedback from the Future of Our Forests program. The RFA modernisation process is an integral part of the program. Sour

Russia is emerging as a major timber exporter that could potentially swamp markets in Australia and New Zealand, a forestry conference has been told. Dennis Nielson, director of NZ-based consultancy DANA, said Russia as a country was overwhelming in its scale, with a forestry industry

The Australian forestry market remains attractive to international investors despite a few headwinds, according to Hancock’s Australasian chief, Bill McCallum, who also signalled that an integrated timberland/farmland investment strategy expanded the opportunities for investors. Sourc

Careful planning is aiming to ensure the mistakes of the past in establishing plantations and farm forestry are not repeated, the new federal Minister for Forests, Jonathon Duniam, said yesterday. Senator Duniam, speaking to a DANA conference in Brisbane, reiterated the Government’s s

Big River has started on its global expansion strategy to better serve its customers across the Tasman and grow its business in the plywood and specialty segments in New Zealand with the acquisition of Plytech, Auckland and Decortech in Penrose, Auckland. Source: Timberbiz “Plytech an

Building industry groups have signed a joint call for urgent Australia-wide action on building regulations. The letter, signed by the Property Council of Australia, the Insurance Council of Australia, Ai Group and the Australian Construction Industry Forum, says Australia’s fragmented

A market research company is visiting country towns in Victoria to test the water on the public’s reaction to shutting down the native timber industry. The most recent of several events was in Maryborough on Wednesday night. Others are understood to have taken place in Shepparton and

The RFA modernisation paper understates the existing levels of protection for biodiversity in Victoria and misrepresents the role of the state’s native forest timber industry, according to the Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA). Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The paper bo

Western Australia has launched a plan that sets a new strategic direction for the state’s forestry industry based on local Aborigines’ spiritual outlook. The state’s Wood Encouragement Policy is a key part of what is called the Djarlma Plan, which was inspired by Djarlma – the N

VEAC’s estimate of $270 million in economic value driven by forest protection in Victoria’s Central West is a mathematical fantasy that ignores real money from a functioning timber industry, according to a regional-based forestry group. The South East Timber Association (SETA) said in

The Victorian Environment Assessment Council (VEAC) has been accused of ignoring its legal obligations with its final report into Victoria’s Central West, while the forestry industry has condemned its recommendations. The VEAC report, released last week, dramatically cut the timber in

Australia’s forestry industry continues to show signs of growth according to a new report released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES). Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries, Senator Jonathon Duniam, said the report’s findings were great ne

The Australian construction industry needs to focus more on industry skilling and the enabling of modern construction enterprise capability, a leading construction industry expert has warned. Source: Timberbiz Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Smart Modern Construction at Western Sy

Offsite construction in Australia, despite the hype, is wallowing in disillusionment, with some prominent failures undermining confidence in the sector, according to one of Australia’s leading construction experts. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz “Despite all the hype, 20 years i

Timber industry stalwart Paul Madden from Barham on the Murray River has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday 2019 Honours List for his service to primary industry and to the community of the Riverina. Source:  Timberbiz Mr Madden is general m

The inaugural chairman of Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA), Ronald Adams, has been recognised with an Order of Australia on the Queen’s Birthday 2019 Honours List for his career-long contributions to benefiting Australia’s forestry and wood sector as well as the communi

A new forestry advertising campaign with the logo, ‘Wood: The Ultimate Renewable’, is set to hit the screens, not just as a re-invigorated branding, but as a strategic reframing and an organising idea for the whole forestry sector. The campaign, launched in Melbourne on Tuesday night,

Forestry deals in Australia and New Zealand over the past 20 years have totalled up to $18 billion, according to a leading forestry analyst. Managing director Indufor Asia-Pacific (Australia), Andrew Morton, said the value of 93 transactions in Australasia over the 20-year period was

Senator Jonathan Duniam, the new assistant federal minister in charge of forestry, was a senior member of Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman’s staff during the development of the new Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement. Senator Duniam grew up in the north-west of Tasmania and went to univ

Australia’s forest industries congratulate the new Minister for Agriculture, Victorian Senator Bridget McKenzie and Assistant Minister with responsibility for Forestry and Fisheries, Tasmanian Senator Jonathon Duniam. Source: Timberbiz “Prime Minister Morrison’s new Cabinet demonstrat

New Zealand’s Wellbeing Budget will enable further transformation of the country’s forestry sector after the successful rollout of the Government’s One Billion Trees program, according to Forestry Minister Shane Jones. The NZ government has called it the Wellbeing Budget as it says it

Advanced technology to map Victoria’s forests is being used as part of the State Government’s plans to modernise forest management, particularly for the Regional Forest Agreements. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DEWLP) has acquired Victoria’s largest ever acq

South Australia’s Liberal Government says that it successfully delivered a positive forestry inquiry despite a negative, divisive approach by the Labor Opposition according to Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Tim Whetstone. Source: Timberbiz “The Shadow Ministe

The State Government of South Australia has appointed BDO Advisory (SA) Pty Ltd to undertake an independent audit on the Plantation Lease Agreement with OneFortyOne Plantations Pty Ltd. Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Tim Whetstone said BDO has partnered with

Both major political parties have committed to spend more on forestry research and development to reverse the plunge in both industry R&D spending and the number of research scientists over the past decade. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz R&D was a key theme of last week’

The Federal Government will provide $500 million in low interest loans to plantation growers if it is re-elected as part of its plan to dramatically expand plantations in Australia. However, the Government’s backtracking on allowing farm forestry and plantations full access to the Emi

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has welcomed Federal Labor’s policy package, which agrees to several AFPA policy priorities to grow Australia’s renewable forest industries. Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) CEO Ross Hampton said there were three key commi

The Forest Industries Election Debate run by AFPA will be an important policy debate ahead of the Federal Election, focusing entirely on policy that directly affects Australia’s full value chain of forest industries. Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Richard Colbe

Veteran firefighter Ewan Waller has called for fuel reduction burning to be an integral part of a visionary, long-term policy for managing fire in the forest. His thoughts were prompted by the recent fires in Gippsland and his memories of the Black Saturday inferno when he experienced

In a boost to Australian paper manufacturing, the Federal Government has imposed duties on copy paper imports from four countries after finding the countries have been dumping A4 copy paper onto the Australian market. The Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Kevin Andrews, a

Victoria’s native forest industry would be closed to generate carbon credits under the Victorian Regional Forest Agreements in a proposal pushed by the state’s Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio. The potential move has been strongly criticised as misunderstan

“Despite reports in ‘The Guardian’, the beekeeping industry wishes to work collaboratively with the forestry industry and state governments to ensure access to resources in state forests,” he said in a statement. “ALL values and uses of the forests need to be recognised throughout Aus

The Western Australian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) has been extended for another 20 years with an annual sustainable yield of at least 191,000 cubic metres of high-quality jarrah and karri saw logs. The landmark RFA agreement for WA’s $1.4 billion was signed on Friday by the Prime

Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) has launched a process to gain certification for its forestry activities from the Forest Stewardship Council. SCS Global Services will conduct an audit of STT’s forestry practices, starting on 20 May, against the new FSC Australian Forest Stewardship

Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Nationals, Michael McCormack, has backed a Regional Forestry Hub in the South West Slopes (Tumut-Tumbarumba region) of southern NSW. In a letter released by the South West Slopes’ Softwoods Working Group (SWG), the Deputy Prime Minister expresse

A $30 million federal government farm biodiversity program that includes potential carbon benefits for tree planting has been backed by the forest industry and Labor Party. Under the $30 million pilot Agriculture Biodiversity Stewardship Program, farmers could receive incentives for p

The peak forestry body in New South Wales says the election of the Coalition Government has removed the threat from the proposed new koala national park but much work remains to be done. Timber NSW General Manager Maree McCaskill said the proposed Great Koala National Park in northern

The Australian Liberal National Government is delivering $200,000 for two new education initiatives in partnership with Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) to educate the next generation to help the industry thrive into the future. Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Re

Uncertainty over the future of Victoria’s native forest industry has deepened as more sites of the official “critically endangered” Leadbeater’s Possum have been found, and negotiations continue over the East Gippsland forest set aside for industry where the Andrews Government designa

The New South Wales Codes of Practice and controls governing private native forest ignore long-term ecological sustainability, and are too complex and should be simplified, with the over-regulation sending a message of lack of trust, according to the state’s peak forestry body. The ch

Forestry experts have described as “a weak rant” and “gross misrepresentation” arguments by Fairfax economics editor Ross Gittins that the native forest industry in Central Gippsland is uneconomic and deprives Melbourne of huge amounts of water through logging of water catchments. Mr

According to Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator Richard Colbeck the outlook for the forest, seafood and horticulture sectors is bright despite clear risks, with continued growth in Australia and overseas providing new markets and opportunities. That was th

Bushfires now in Victoria and previously in Tasmania have had a devastating affect not only on forestry but also and more importantly livelihoods, livestock and lives with firefighters in Victoria currently building containment lines around fires burning east of Melbourne before “gust

New South Wales Government Minister for Forestry Paul Toole announced that the Government is investing almost $40 million to support innovation and training for NSW’s forestry industry and has allocated $4.6 million to support the development of a training and certification scheme for

Two forestry scientists have harshly criticised “false science” and its links to environmental activism as completely distorting the truth about the native forestry industry and the endangered status of the Leadbeater’s Possum. Forestry consultant and author Mark Poynter and Mike Ryan

About 150 million tonnes of carbon are stored in Australian wood products, clear felling only makes up 9% of native forest harvesting, and forest activities pose relatively little danger to threatened species. Those are some of the conclusions of Australia’s State of the Forests 2018

Forestry ministers from the Commonwealth, the states and territories met in Melbourne on 15 February 2019 at the Forestry Ministers Meeting to discuss ways to continue to support Australia’s forestry industries. There was one similar meeting in June last year and three in 2017.

International House in Sydney, the first commercial office building in Australia made from timber, has won a major award at the World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam. The seven-floor structure, which is also the world’s tallest commercial building made from engineered wood, was awa

The Ta Ann Mill at Southwood and its surrounding plantations were a high priority for firefighters following widespread fire in the Huon Valley last week. There was some superficial damage to buildings as an ember attack in the wake of the fire front damaged a skylight and entered the

The bushfires in Tasmania are having a big impact on the state’s private forestry industry, with tens of thousands of hectares burnt. Private Forests Tasmania (PFT) said that as of February 5, a total of 35,325 hectares of the private forest estate had been burnt in the fires. Source:

Business Tasmania is a Tasmanian Government service which provides the business community with a range of support and assistance. In times of extreme weather events or other emergencies, Business Tasmania can help impacted businesses access necessary information and services. Source:

The Queensland Hardwood Timber Industry is coming under increasing pressure from many directions. Demand for timber products is increasing at a rapid rate and Queensland has the potential to become a significant supplier and processor of world-class, sustainable and durable wood. Sour

The Institute of Foresters of Australia has voted overwhelmingly to merge with Australian Forest Growers, creating a body with potentially more punch in the forest industry. More than 90% of IFA voters supported the merger, at an extraordinary general meeting last week. The AFG had al

Kirk Architects and Hyne Timber have been chosen to build a new centre known as a ‘diagrid’ for turtles in Queensland using Spotted Gum. The Mon Repos structure itself is known as a ‘diagrid’ which presents an innovative resistance against cyclonic conditions. It is believed to be the

The National Farmers Federation has a forestry expert running the government and industry drive to encourage farmers to plant more trees to alleviate Australia’s plantation shortage. Warwick Ragg, the NFF’s general manager of natural resource management, was the chief executive of Aus

The New South Wales forestry industry will have access to about 340,000 cubic metres of quality saw logs annually from native forests over the next five years under the recommitted 20-year regional forest agreements. More than 1 million cubic metres of non-high quality logs will also

Tim Woods has taken on the role of acting general manager of ForestWorks following the resignation of general manager Diana Lloyd after more than two years in the role. Mr Woods is a well known and respected industry figure and a regular contributor to Timberbiz. Source: Timberbiz 

New Zealand has deepened the environmental role of forestry as part of its $NZ480 million, 10-year plan to plant one billion new trees by 2028. The Minister for Forests, Shane Jones, said NZ had now included permanent forests as part of changes to its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) sh

VicForests made a net profit of $1.2 million on sales of about $101 million in 2017-18 despite big cutbacks in the state’s timber resource, according to the annual report of the government’s commercial forestry operator. The state-owned company, despite a small drop in the value of sa

Victorian Environment Assessment Council (VEAC) draft forestry proposals for Central West Victoria slug the region’s timber industry, while ignoring its economic importance and its role in fighting fires and maintaining biodiversity, according to the state’s peak forestry body. The dr

Quintessential Equity has hailed the opening of a new Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) processing and offsite manufacturing factory at Avalon Airport’s new industrial precinct, as a major win for both the City of Geelong and the building industry’s march toward more sustainable methods of

Exciting times are ahead for the Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA) and Australian Forest Growers (AFG) as they facilitate Extraordinary General Meetings for their members to vote on the proposed merger of IFA and AFG, a proposal endorsed by both boards of the two not-for-profi

The Norske Skog group has decided to invest about AUD$7 million to upgrade the Nature’s Flame wood pellets facility in New Zealand to more than double its annual production capacity to 85,000 tonnes. The increased production capacity will be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Australia’s renewable pulp and paper industries are leading the way in global sustainability and innovation, according to the 2018 National Pulp and Paper Sustainability Report. “The report confirms Australia’s renewable pulp and paper industries are setting the agenda with ambitious

Australian Paper’s $600 million energy from waste proposal at its Latrobe Valley plant has been given an ‘environmental tick’ from EPA Victoria. The EPA has issued a Works Approval, which means the project meets the EPA’s stringent emissions standards. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timbe

Eucalyptus species are grown throughout the world for their hardwood qualities and rapid growth. As a plantation species, their most common use is for pulp production and in many developing countries for utility poles and fuel wood. In Australia, there are approximately 900,000 hectar

Former Victorian forestry chief, Philip Dalidakis, has been dumped from the new Victorian Labor Cabinet because half the ministers will be women. Mr Dalidakis, a former chief executive of the Victorian Forest Industries Association and a strong forestry supporter, was omitted from the

The Andrews Government – senior ministers and relevant departments – has strongly rejected allegations made on the ABC that VicForests has illegally harvested native forest timber on a massive scale. ABC’s 7:30 Report, three days before Saturday’s state election, accused VicForests of

Just recently FSC Australia was making the news with what it called its ‘groundbreaking’ Australian version of the world’s strongest forestry standard. In FSC’s media release it pointed to a certification standard “jointly agreed by industry, environment and community interests”. Whil

Wood pellets, which can play a big role in cutting carbon dioxide when used in pulverised coal power stations, are a growing export opportunity for Australia, according to Australia’s peak wood researcher. Wood pellet exports are increasing and their future looks bright, says Forest &

About 400 tonnes of logs and a selection of sawn timber are up for auction on Saturday 24 November in Western Australia. The auction, for timber from the South West and Goldfields regions, will take place at the WA Forest Products Commission Harvey Mill. It will kick off at 10am. The

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has developed a new forest certification standard specifically for Australia to support the sustainable management of forests across the country. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz FSC Australia’s National Forest Stewardship Standard joins the ex

Australian Paper is forging ahead with its $7.5 million feasibility study into building a $600 million energy from waste plant at the Maryvale paper mill in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, according to the company’s 2017-18 Sustainability Report. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The pr

Revenue from the sale of Tasmanian forest products from public land rose by more than 19% last year to $144.86 million, according to Sustainable Timber Tasmania’s annual report. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz A $26.6 million increase in the value of the managed forest, plus othe

Victoria’s plantation estate needs to be increased by about 20% to 500,000 hectares over the next decade, according to one of Victoria’s peak industry bodies. Source: Philip Hopkins for  Timberbiz Victoria now has about 421,700 hectares of hardwood and softwood plantations, the Victor

A young female forester, Emma Gall from HVP Plantations, was one of four winners at this year’s Victorian forestry industry awards, which covered individual excellence, sustainability and contributions to the economy and community. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The awards were

The Board of Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers (KIPT) has planned a transition to a governance and management structure better suited to an operating timber export business. Source: Timberbiz As the development phase of the company’s growth approaches its conclusion and the productio

A leading Andrews Government minister, Philip Dalidakis, vowed to the Victorian forestry industry on Friday night that he would boycott Bunnings and Officeworks if they refused to sell Victorian forestry products. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz “As far as I am aware, I’m the onl

The Federal Government has foreshadowed a tough approach towards retailers who refuse to sell goods certified under the internationally recognised Australian Forestry Standard (AFS). Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Senator Richard Colbeck,

The Federal Government’s $20 million forestry plan to plant one billion trees is a big policy step, but is inadequate as it amounts to only two cents per tree. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz That was a key point made by the chairman of the Australian Forest Products Association,

According to HIA economist Diwa Hopkins Australia’s home building industry beat expectations in commencing construction of 228,480 homes in the 2017/18 financial year. Source: Timberbiz This represents a 3.3% increase on home starts in the previous financial year.  The ABS today relea

VicForests released the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) audit report (May 2018) and reaffirmed its commitment to pursuing certification of FSC Controlled Wood standard. In conjunction with the results, VicForests released its FSC 2020: VicForests Controlled Wood Roadmap outlining the

The NSW Government has opened round 1 of applications under the Forest Industries Innovation Fund loan scheme – a $34 million fund to assist industry in adopting new technology and innovative practices. Source: Timberbiz The scheme aims to attract projects that will better address the

Aborigines’ fire management skills should be integrated into Victoria’s fire-fighting planning to complement fuel reduction burning, according to the state’s forestry experts. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz “The traditional owners of the land have unique skills and expertise in

The NSW Government will fund new innovative forestry projects aimed at improving profitability, opening up new local and international markets, and preparing for future opportunities. Source: Timberbiz Minister for Lands and Forestry Paul Toole said applications would soon open for th

A total of 30 key plantation regions will be created under the Federal Government’s national forestry plan, with farmers playing a big role in planting trees. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The $20 million, four-year plan aims to plant an additional 400,000 hectares of forests –

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has released its annual report for the 2017/2018 year and in it  Chief Executive Officer Ross Hampton said the association has had a strong year, growing in membership, capacity, capability and influence. Source: Timberbiz He said that

Robots are likely to have a bigger role in timber processing as they take over work that is dirty, dangerous or difficult. By Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz That was a key message of Troy Krogh, regional director of Scott Automation & Robotics, to the WoodTech conference in Melbourn

Australia’s renewable timber and wood-fibre industry will be better prepared for future challenges and opportunities with the support of the Australian Government’s National Forest Industries Plan – Growing a better Australia. Source: Timberbiz Minister for Agriculture and Water Resou

The new owner of Nelson Forests OneFortyOne (OFO) has marked the settlement of its purchase with the announcement of two significant new initiatives – the establishment of a substantial fund for sedimentation research and a school leaver program that will provide trade apprenticeships

The Australian Forest Products Association SA Branch (AFPA SA) has welcomed the forest industries measures announced in the South Australian State Budget. Source: Timberbiz “It’s great to see that the SA Government has heeded the advice of AFPA SA provided during the state election ca

Timberlink has approved a $100 million upgrade program to its Australian sawmills. This generational investment will see the total processing capacity of the Australasian sawmilling company increase by more than 15%. Source: Timberbiz The investment will secure more than 1350 direct a

After the Federal government’s recent political spill a change has come that will certainly be welcomed by most of the forestry industry as well as Tasmanians. Richard Colbeck has been given the portfolio of Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources assuming responsibilit

Australia’s ‘new look’ government is due to launch the National Forest Industries Plan in September 2018. The plan is to be released by the Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Senator Anne Ruston, who remains responsible for forestry.  Source: Timberbiz The developm

A new pilot program has been launched by Weathertex and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to understand the chemical changes that take place during the production of external timber cladding. Sources: FWPA, Timberbiz A collaboration between industry and academia, the intended

A recent article in ‘The Age’ shows how easy it is for the mainstream media to feed negative perceptions about the native forest industry, according to forestry writer and consultant, Mark Poynter. By Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz Mr Poynter, in an address to the National Timber Counci

The federal Labor Party has promised a forestry plan that emphasises science over environmental hysteria, and includes carbon farming and bioenergy as chief ways for the sector to fight climate change. Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz “Labor’s principle – it has to be informed by the fact

OneFortyOne Plantations(OFO) is consolidating its position as a new vertically integrated company, including potentially using bioenergy as it maps future growth in Australia and New Zealand. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The company’s executive general manger – forestry,

A multi million dollar court action seeking damages from building products giant Carter Holt Harvey has been filed at the Auckland High Court. Sources: Newshub, Stuff NZ It is seeking at least NZ$40 million in damages on behalf of owners of properties constructed with Shadowclad. Shad

About 60,000 tonnes of plantation pine residue is up for grabs over two years in Western Australia. By Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The WA Government has let a tender for the product, with the successful bidder or bidders expected to be announced this month. WA’s Forest Products Commi

The Federal and State Governments must learn from the Greek fire tragedy before we experience another Black Saturday bushfire in Australia. That is the stark warning from the Institute of Foresters of Australia. Source: Timberbiz and IFA Bob Gordon, National President of the Institute

Forests cover almost one-third of the world’s land area and over one billion people rely on them for their livelihoods. Source: Steve Nicholson, director of sustainability at Solaris Paper As of March 2017, nearly 450 companies had made 760 commitments to curb forest destruction in su

LINX Cargo Care Group, and its subsidiary C3 Limited, has been successful in its bid to acquire Pedersen Group, a market leading provider of wood chipping and wood yard management services to pulp and paper mills, and forest owners in Australia and New Zealand. Source: Timberbiz Peder

Leadbeater’s Possum (LP) should retain its status as “critically endangered” but more information and research is needed to finalise this designation, according to a federal government scientific body. Source: Phillip Hopkins for Timberbiz Future bushfires, triggered considerably by c

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) is launching a $10 million plan to turbo-charge forest industries in Tasmania, and specifically in the federal electorate of Braddon, ahead of the July 28 by-election poll. Source: Timberbiz “Forest industries are incredibly important

Bushfire policy, the nature of conservation and the implications for the timber industry form the key themes of a new book on native forestry. “Going ‘Green’: Forests, Fire and a Flawed Conservation Culture”, by forestry expert Mark Poynter was launched in Melbourne last Friday. Mr Po

Opportunities for Southern Tasmania – a private forestry forum for landowners, foresters, processors and land-use managers will be held at the Royal Hobart Showground, Glenorchy on 8 August. Source: Timberbiz The forum, from 6-9.30pm, will be addressed by keynote speaker Guy Barnett,

The controversy surrounding the harvesting of a coupe at a traditional timber town, Noojee in West Gippsland, highlights the issues facing the native forest industry. By Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz. A full hearing of the Federal Court, likely in February, will hear a claim by the Fri

A new online platform called AREMI identifies the location, availability and volume of biomass, and has been flagged as a pivotal tool to boost investment in Australia’s renewable energy sector. Source: Timberbiz Businesses and investors now have access to a data-rich platform which m

American group The Conservation Fund, which combines protecting forests and creating jobs in partnership with business, offers a model that Australia could follow. By Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz That was the key message of the Vice-President of The Conservation Fund, Robin Murphy, in

Australia now has the third highest number of tall buildings in the world made from wood. More than 50 buildings in Australia have been built from engineered timber in the past five years, with Australia now having the third highest number of tall buildings in the world made from wood

The Australian and Tasmanian governments are supporting advances in a sustainable and productive forestry industry with wood product innovation they hope will grow the sector. Source: Timberbiz Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Senator Anne Ruston, and Tasmanian

The Victorian Association of Forest Industries Annual Dinner will be held on 19 October at the RACV Club, Melbourne. Source: Timberbiz One of the premier events for the state’s forest and wood products industry and of particular significance with 2018 being a state election year, the

Australia-based forestry company New Forests will use landmark Australian genetic technology to boost productivity in its tropical eucalyptus plantations. By Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz New Forests has forged a partnership with Gondwana Genomics, a private company founded in 2014 wit

Australia’s housing approvals surged in March, rising 9.2% compared with February, totalling 19,452 separate approvals. While the monthly data was positive, the big stories are that free-standing house approvals are still growing and Victoria’s approvals remain at record levels. Sourc

The new National Institute of Forest Products Innovation has kicked into gear in South Australia, with an inaugural meeting of its industry-driven advisory committee electing Tammy Auld as Chair and planning a workshop to discuss the research priorities and strategy with all intereste

Representatives from the Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) and the National Farmers Federation (NFF), including AFPA Chair Greg McCormack and NFF President Fiona Simson visited New Zealand to examine farm forestry operations near Rotorua. Source: Timberbiz The joint delega

513,811 bdmt – projected woodchip exports from Australia in April 2018, measured in bone dry metric tonnes, based on IndustryEdge’s unique vessel tracking and analysis -$23.03/m3 – the February 2018 discount for softwood log exports that were <15 cm diameter. Their exports averaged

Institutional investors, superannuation funds and trusts are a likely source of funds for a new venture by universities and industry that aims to establish tree plantations to meet Australia’s growing demand for wood. Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The immediate focus is on Gippsland an

The Victorian Association of Forest Industries (VAFI), has thrown its support behind its members’ drive to extend their contracts with VicForests, the state government’s commercial forestry arm. From Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz Tim Johnston, the chief executive of VAFI said processor

Six Gippsland sawmills have renewed pressure on the Victorian Government, urging Premier Daniel Andrews in an Open Letter to save jobs, protect regional communities and return confidence to the timber industry. Source: Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz The G6, as the new group calls itself

448,686m3 – Australia’s log exports in February 2018, dominated by 403,136m3 of softwood logs AUD14.895 million – the value of dressed sawn softwood imports to New South Wales in February 2018, on a free-on-board basis 12.4% – growth in the value of timber windows imported to Australi

VicForests said that it respected the sentiments of South Gippsland Shire Council, that voted against native timber harvesting in Mirboo North.  “We urge the Council and the community to continue talking with us,” Alex Messina, VicForests General Manager Corporate Affairs said.  “Ther

Australia’s woodchip exports totalled 580,785 bone dry metric tonnes (bdmt) in February 2018, with hardwood chips at 494,345 (bdmt). Softwood chips continued their recent strength, totalling 86,440 bdmt. Source: IndustryEdge, Timberbiz Latest data analysed for the Australian industry

Landscape-scale forest planning and security of supply are key demands of the Victorian forestry industry for the next generation of the 20-year regional forest agreements (RFAs). By Philip Hopkins for Timberbiz All five Victorian RFAs, which are to be finalised by March 2020, must re

Victoria’s forest industry jobs and the environment have been assured certainty with the Australian and Victorian governments extending the Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) for East Gippsland, Central Highlands and the North-East regions. Source: Timberbiz The extension of the three

Australia’s forestry industry is finding it difficult to attract qualified or experienced people to work in this interesting and rewarding sector. Source: Timberbiz This is despite the fact that Australia’s forest industry is a dynamic and sustainable provider of regional employment,

Governments seeking to develop national timber traceability systems to comply with tightening international standards can look for inspiration to Latin America, a joint report by the FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Program and the World Resources Institute

UPM is kicking off its -30 by 30 program to decrease value chain emissions by 30% from 2018 levels by 2030. Calculating the carbon footprint of a UPM product can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months. The more complex the product, the more information is needed to und

SCA together with Scania Trucks has developed the world’s first electric timber truck with a capacity of 80 tonnes. SCA’s goal is to make the entire value chain fossil-free. Source: Timberbiz “We have come a long way in industrial processes, which are already 96% fos

An additional 208 trees have been planted around the City of Fremantle thanks to a $16,500 Local Government Urban Canopy Grant. Source: Timberbiz The trees, consisting of 16 species of WA natives, have been planted by the City of Fremantle at Booyeembara Park, Princess May Park, Holli

Melbourne design week is an annual showcase of the best collectible contemporary design in Australia. It is the event for Australia’s leading designers to exhibit their work. Jon Goulder and Henry Williams chose Cusp CLT to design a minimalist table to showcase a collection of ceramic

The first training program has commenced at the new Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) Biosecurity Training Centre (BTC), with 21 new students starting on 4 July. Source: Timberbiz Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Australia’s

Detached house approvals continue to be elevated compared with pre-COVID levels, meaning projects underway and new work entering the pipeline will continue to keep home builders busy into 2023. Source: Timberbiz “Detached house approvals increased by 1.8% in the three months to May 20

Pine pollen containing a rare natural source of plant-based testosterone could prove a goldmine for New Zealand’s forestry sector. Source: Timberbiz Pine Pollen New Zealand Limited, trading under the name Bio Gold, has received NZ$288,500 in Government funding through the Ministry for

The Victorian Government has published its much-anticipated Offsite Construction Guide that delivers its agencies a road map towards embracing Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). Source: Timberbiz “The Offsite Construction Guide seeks to ensure Victorian Government staff continue as