Despite a promise by the Bracks Labor government in Victoria which guaranteed woodchoppers would always have logs, the Andrews Labor government’s desperation to shore up the Greens vote how shown the true value of a Labor Party promise, according to The Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh. Source: Timberbiz
“Log supply for the Victorian Axemen’s Council upcoming woodchopping events are in jeopardy and without hardwood logs, Victorian athletes will be unable to compete at this most traditional of Australian sports,” Mr Walsh said.
“A court order limiting timber harvesting in areas managed by VicForests means the council does not have enough logs to supply Victoria’s woodchopping events.”
Mr Walsh said the woodchop was being sacrificed on the “altar of Andrews Labor Government indifference as it continues to fail Victoria’s native timer industry”.
He said that almost 150 years of this genuine bush sport, which is a hallmark event at everything from the Royal Melbourne Show to the one-day annual shows in scores of little country towns scattered across the state, was now at risk of disappearing.
According to author and former professional forester in various parts of eastern Australia over 33 years Robert OnFray Australia has a history of woodchopping and sawing competitions dating back to the nineteenth century. The first formal competitions started in the mountain ash or swamp gum forests of southern Tasmania, where the axemen developed the Tasmanian axe for cutting hardwood.
He writes that first confirmed record of a chopping match was in 1872. Edward Murray of Surges Bay and Edward Owens of Port Esperance competed against each other. They held their contest in the forest, with Murray winning by cutting through his tree in 44 minutes. The chopping match featured in mainland newspapers and led to other events in the Port Esperance and Southport areas, quickly spreading around the state and the mainland.
The first open chopping match, involving more than two people, not with trees but logs dug into the ground, was held in May 1877 at Penguin’s inaugural Agricultural Show. It featured four competitors and was very popular. Its success saw neighbouring towns Latrobe and Ulverstone host similar events. From 1880 onwards, wood chopping became the central attraction if a Tasmanian town had a show.
In 1891, a group of axemen formed the United Australasian Axeman’s Association to formalise the sport of woodchopping and confirm its rules. Later that year, the Atkinson’s sale yards in Latrobe held the inaugural championships. Sixty-seven axemen competed in the woodchopping events.
Mr Walsh said that with more than 100 events run each year across the state drawing skilled competitors from all over Australia the lack of logs was a crisis for the sport.
“This isn’t just about all those little shows, Australia is the world woodchop champion, we stand tall on the global stage, and Daniel Andrews wants to cut all that off at the knees for the latte crowd of inner Melbourne,” he said.
“In my electorate the Rosenow family is just one of many steeped in the proud history of this sport. Originally redgum sleeper cutters, Doug Rosenow has told me of his parents, uncles, and grandparents all being part of the competitive woodchop scene.
“He is both horrified and despondent at the way these arbitrary decisions are being made in Melbourne by people with no idea of the ripple effect of badly designed policies designed not for effective in-the-field management but for effective behind-the-scenes political support.”
Mr Walsh said you only have to look at the large crowds woodchopping events attract at shows – invariably it is standing room only – and competitive athletes are highly trained and it’s devastating their sport “is being diminished through green lawfare”.
“The Nationals have made a commitment to Brad Meyer, the president of the VAC, to fight for the sport,” Mr Walsh said.
“It would be a crying shame to lose this tradition from our regional shows and events in Victoria. Woodchopping is a major drawcard, and it attracts international competitors.
“The Andrews Labor Government’s cannot continue to sit on its hands and turn a blind eye, it must come up with a workable solution.”
Robert Onfray’s history of woodchopping in Australia can be read at https://www.robertonfray.com/2022/12/30/origins-of-woodchopping-as-a-sport/
