Forest Products Industry

The Sydney Timber Architecture and Construction Forum will be held on 22 February 2024 and organised by WoodSolutions. This in-person event will take place at the NSW Teachers Federation Conference Centre, located in the heart of Sydney. Source: Timberbiz At the forum, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with industry experts, architects, builders, and suppliers, all passionate about timber. Discover the latest trends, innovative techniques, and sustainable practices that are shaping the future of timber construction. Immerse yourself in a morning filled with presentations on the latest in active moisture management from international guests, the latest in Passive House construction, and the new face of industrial buildings in wood. Learn from speakers who will share their expertise, success stories, and valuable insights. Gain practical knowledge that to apply to projects, while exchanging ideas with like-minded professionals. The seminar will feature internationally renowned expert Jason Teetaert of Structure Monitoring Technology, a leader in real-time building physics tracking. He has travelled from Canada to showcase permanent roof leak detection, which is able to pinpoint moisture breaches early before major damage. This proactive safeguard system uses sensor networks installed directly into roof assemblies. This is an event targeted at architects, engineers and builders. For more information and to book click here.

Recent research suggesting that hazard-reduction burning increases bushfire risk has come under fire from the NSW Rural Fire Service. Source: Timberbiz RFS community risk director Simon Heemstra has echoed comments from Forestry Australia that there is no panacea for reducing the impacts of catastrophic bushfires. The research – “Identifying and managing disturbance-stimulated flammability in woody ecosystems” – published in scientific journal Biological Reviews, draws on studies of the severe bushfires in 2009 and 2019-2020 to identify factors that may increase the intensity of a burn. It found that that the risk of extreme blazes decreased as trees grew taller. However, Dr Heemstra told the ABC that while the report offered some insights regarding fuel accumulation it did not outline anything the organisation could put into practice. “To wholesale adopt the recommendations of this report would make the landscape much more dangerous and threaten life and property,” he said. Dr Heemstra said prescribed burns reduced the fuel load, helped certain vegetation reproduce, made putting out small fires easier, and provided training for RFS staff. “There is always a reduction in risk when you reduce part of the fuel,” he told the ABC. “Fires are going to be not as intense, not run as fast, and be more easily controlled. “Our losses of property and risk to human life are significantly reduced once we reduce fuel load. “The more we implement prescribed burning and have strategies to try to reduce ignitions and suppress fires, the more we’re reducing these big fires with a very significant impact.” Dr Heemstra said the report was overly simplistic in its suggestions about lightning strike modelling and drones dropping retardants on ignitions to prevent sparks becoming bushfire blazes. “There are options we need to look at in the future, but it’s not a silver bullet and it needs to go in the mix with everything else we are doing as far as bushfire risk management,” he said. Dr Heemstra told the ABC the RFS aimed to burn bushland every five to 10 years to minimise risk. He said that was an ancient practice. “The Australian landscape was shaped after tens of thousands of years of management through Aboriginal Australians and their cultural burning practices,” he said. “There is a lot to be learned and understood from the use of fire in the landscape.” Forestry Australia Science Policy Adviser Dr Tony Bartlett said that while there was no panacea for reducing the impacts of catastrophic bushfires, prescribed burning was a scientifically proven part of the solution. “Simply, reduced fuel levels in forests will reduce the severity of bushfires on all bar the most catastrophic fire weather conditions,” he said. “Any criticism that prescribed burning can make Australian forests more flammable is misguided. Criticising prescribed burning is like dismissing the value of seat belts in cars because people still die in car accidents. Both seat belts and prescribed burns are highly beneficial most of the time. “Forestry Australia’s view is that using cool burning to reduce fuel hazards is critical to good forest fire management and very consistent with the way Aboriginal people managed these forests for thousands of years.”

University of Queensland researchers have found improving timber production efficiencies by just 5% could unlock supply for an extra 8000 homes to be built in Australia each year. Source: Timberbiz The industry supported modelling was carried out at the $16.5 million Australian Research Council to Advance Timber for Australia’s Future Built Environment (ARC Advance Timber Hub) at UQ. Associate Professor Joe Gattas, who co-leads two research areas at the Hub, said supply chain efficiencies could result in more affordable and sustainable housing options for Australians. “Early consultation with our industry partners has shown us where efficiencies can be made across all stages of the forest to building supply chain,” Dr Gattas said. “Our research will investigate how to deliver these improvements using new technologies such as computer vision and artificial intelligence to get more usable material out of each tree and augmented reality and robotics to enhance productivity for time-consuming and repetitive tasks. “Every gain in the supply chain allows more houses to be built and we hope this will increase the use of Australian-grown timber as a more sustainable choice for construction.” Hub Director, Professor Keith Crews, said the research would encourage growth in the timber industry and identify new ways the material could be used in construction. “We all benefit from more timber in construction – by delivering a boost for industry and supporting sustainability targets because timber removes carbon from the environment and stores it,” Professor Crews said. “Timber has a key role in helping Australia transition to a circular and net-zero economy. “While timber is commonly used in smaller dwellings such as housing, we are working with the State Government and industry to look at ways it can be incorporated into larger projects such as athlete accommodation for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games. “Making more timber available will also help support the Australian Government’s National Housing Accord to deliver 10,000 affordable homes over the next five years.” Federal Assistant Minister for Education, Senator Anthony Chisholm, said the Advance Timber Hub funded through the ARC’s Industrial Transformation Research Program, demonstrated the benefits of investing in publicly funded research in Australia. “Australians want our country to be a nation that makes things through sustainable practices, but this can only be done when we back initiatives like the ARC’s Linkage Program, which promotes innovative national and international research collaboration and partnerships with global suppliers,” Senator Chisholm said. “The Advance Timber Hub will enable an advanced manufacturing transformation of Australia’s timber and construction industries, supporting resource diversification and creating new opportunities for regional development and employment.” Acting ARC CEO, Dr Richard Johnson said the linkage program is all about bringing together researchers and industry partners to drive innovation and translation. “The ARC is pleased to support this Research Hub, which involves strong collaboration among national and international universities and industry partners, to stimulate rapid growth in innovation in the timber industry,” Dr Johnson said. Partners include researchers from 12 Australian and five international universities and research institutes working in collaboration with 28 industry partners.  

Taxpayers have forked out almost half a million dollars on overseas copy paper for federal agencies, as the Coalition pushes for a return of paper manufacturing in Australia. Source: Herald Sun Australia’s last white paper mill at Maryvale in Victoria stopped making the product last year, resulting in up to 200 job losses. The average price of imported paper has soared by up to $100 a tonne to around $2000, up about 5% last year. Opposition forestry spokesman Jonno Duniam said the end of copy paper production had also cost Australia thousands of indirect jobs, as well as economic activity. Senator Duniam pointed the finger at both the Victorian and federal governments, saying the shutdown of Australian manufacturing “could and should have been prevented”. “A re-elected Coalition government would seek to work closely with industry to return paper manufacturing to Australia,” he said. New figures reveal federal government departments and agencies spent at least $450,000 last year on overseas paper after Australian-made supply ended. The Defence Department made up the bulk of the costs, spending almost $200,000 so far in 2023-24. This was followed by the Home Affairs department, which spent more than $62,000, the Australian Taxation Office at almost $55,000, and the Agriculture department at about $20,000. “In December 2022, the only paper manufacturer in Australia ceased operation, and Australian made paper can no longer be sourced,” an agriculture department spokesman said. Some government agencies reinforced their commitment to going paperless. But major government departments including health are yet to respond to the questions from estimates, which are now overdue. Senator Duniam accused Forestry Minister Murray Watt of being “asleep at the wheel” while his Victorian Labor colleagues terminated the native forestry industry”. “The Victorian Labor government’s blinkered, ideological opposition to forestry always leads to worse outcomes, including for the environment,” the Tasmanian Liberal said, adding other countries had lower standards. “It was a culmination of failures by Dan Andrews and Jacinta Allen who sold out Gippsland workers and formally banned Victorian native timber harvesting from the start of 2024.” Manufacturer Opal Australia shut its paper manufacturing facilities after struggling to secure timber supply. The decision was announced after the Supreme Court put regulations on VicForests, affecting its ability to meet contracts, because it did not do enough to protect endangered gliders. Opal Australia will in mid-February have a major shutdown at its Latrobe Valley site to upgrade it so it can focus on brown packaging.

Forest and Wood Communities Australia unfortunately finds it necessary to address the recent peculiar actions of environmental activists targeting Victorian plantation timber harvesting. While respecting differing opinions, it is crucial to underscore the irony and misinformed nature of these activists protesting in plantations which were expressly established for timber utilization. Plantation timber stands as a testament to commitment to sustainability and is meticulously designed to provide a renewable source of timber. Unfortunately, recent protests indicate a surreal misunderstanding of these practices, as activists inexplicably move into plantations with the rather baffling intention of opposing timber harvesting contrary to the very purpose for which these plantations exist. Forest and Wood Communities Australia fully supports environmental awareness and responsible resource management. However, the actions of these so-called eco-activists border on the absurd, as they protest the utilization of timber in the very spaces created for that very purpose. It is perplexing to witness these activists targeting Blue-gum plantation timber in Victoria, via the states Koala population. The truth couldn’t be further from the activist portrayals as Victoria has a thriving koala population of approximately 459,865 animals, with an estimated 412,948 in native forest and woodland and a further 46,917 in eucalypt plantations. In several areas, the population density is so high it is unsustainable, with the Victorian government spending millions of dollars on sterilization and relocation programs. Aside from these obvious facts brought to you by scientists from the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research (ARI), Victorian Chief conservation regulator Kate Gavens said plantation operators must adhere to harvesting conditions such as obtaining a permit from the regulator to harvest where there are koalas present, alongside consulting with an ecologist to decide how to ‘manage’ the koalas. “It includes having trained koala spotters on-site, retaining vegetation where you do spot koalas, and taking action if you do spot a koala,” Ms Gavens said. It seems the unhinged anti-everything inner-city activists cannot grasp that plantation forestry serves as an efficient way to meet the growing demand for timber while minimizing the impact elsewhere. The activists’ misguided approach undermines the pragmatic and ecologically sound reasons behind the establishment of these plantations. Forest and Wood Communities Australia condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent call for a moratorium on timber harvesting by environmentalists. Such an extreme proposition, lacking a factual basis, not only disregards the scientific foundation of sustainable forestry but also threatens the livelihoods of communities dependent on the forest and wood industries. The irony in the activists’ actions is undeniable. Forest and Wood Communities Australia extends an invitation to these activists to engage in a rational dialogue, understanding the comprehensive efforts undertaken to promote responsible forestry. The organization encourages activists to redirect their passion toward constructive efforts that support sustainability, rather than engaging in actions that unwittingly challenge the very practices they purportedly champion. Mick Harrington. Executive Officer of Forest and Wood Communities Australia

Pressure is piling up for the Federal Government to cut the nearly $10m funding of the Environmental Defenders Office. The Federal Opposition has been joined by Australian Energy Producers and the Australian Forest Products Association in calling for action against the EDO. The Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler has already said her government would be reviewing its $100,000-a-year funding arrangement. The call for defunding follow the EDO losing an action brought by the North East Forest Alliance  against the Commonwealth of Australia and the State of NSW with its lawyers arguing that the RFA should not have been renewed without assessment and approval under federal environment laws, and a landmark case against Santos’s $5.3bn Barossa LNG project, with claims the company’s proposed 262km pipeline would cause irreparable damage to First Nations people and their sites. In the second case, a Federal Court judge described a “cultural mapping” exercise and other key components of the Environmental Defenders Office case against the Santos Barossa gas project as “so lacking in integrity that no weight can be placed on them” and tainted by “confection” and “construction” of evidence. Opposition spokeswoman for Indigenous Australians Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in The Australian today wrote that “the absurdity of the Albanese government funding an organisation hellbent on undermining government processes beggars’ belief and points to a government that is both out of touch and out of its depth”. “That Anthony Albanese and Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek would continue to allow taxpayer money to be wasted like this is simply astonishing. It begs the question: is this all just a thinly veiled attempt to, as Queensland senator Susan McDonald puts it, ‘secure votes in inner-city seats under threat from the Greens’?” Very well put. All it seems Tanya Plibersek can say to the EDO is ‘I hope they take notice’. That might not be enough.