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The soon-to-be-established Timber, Furnishing and Textiles Union has claimed Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s plan to cut key nation-building programs essential to securing the timber industry’s future would be disastrous for timber communities across Australia. Source: Timberbiz The TFTU – created after members of the CFMEU Manufacturing Division voted overwhelmingly to leave the CFMEU and establish an independent union – says the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF), the Future Made in Australia (FMIA) fund, and the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) are all on the chopping block at this weekend’s Federal election. These programs were identified as critical by a Forestry Industry Roundtable attended by over 80 industry leaders and experts in December in Hobart, hosted by the Strategic Forest and Renewable Materials Partnership to inform the development of the soon-to-be-released Timber Fibre Strategy. “If Peter Dutton cuts these programs, it’s not just jobs at risk — it’s the future of our industry,” said Mr Michael O’Connor, TFTU National Secretary and Co-Chair of the Strategic Partnership. “Slashing these programs against the advice of industry experts would slam the brakes on investment in our industry.” “These are exactly the programs that industry leaders and experts have identified as highly suitable for leveraging future growth.” The NRF and FMIA have been earmarked as vital sources of investment for manufacturing, innovation, new product development, and lower-emissions intensive production (such as green production credits). Meanwhile, the HAFF has been recognised as a key driver to underpin demand for structural framing timber used extensively in residential construction and investment in timber prefab component manufacturing to service the expansion of high-quality prefabricated and modular housing. “While Peter Dutton claims to support regional industries, his cuts would drag the timber industry backwards,” said Mr O’Connor. “At a time when we should be expanding processing and value-adding onshore, Dutton’s cuts would leave workers and regional communities isolated.” “Timber workers, their families and communities cannot afford to pay the price for Peter Dutton’s cuts.” “We need a government that invests in regional industries — not one that abandons them, as a Peter Dutton-led Government would.”

New polling commissioned by the Australian Forest Products Association in the NSW Mid-North Coast based federal electorate of Cowper shows voters are strongly supportive of the region’s sustainable native forestry and recognise the importance of the industry for local communities, the economy and environment in the area. Source: Timberbiz Importantly, more than half of those surveyed who said they’d vote for Teal-Independent Caz Heise said they wanted the industry maintained in the region – despite the candidate’s public commitment that she wants to shut the industry down. It follows UComms polling in the NSW Federal seat of Gilmore that found voters overwhelmingly backed the electorate’s critical native forestry industries, while also expressing strong support for the sector’s contribution to the economy and environment, and polling in the Tasmanian federal electorate of Lyons which showed voters in that seat want all sides of politics to back in Tasmania’s native, plantation and downstream forest industries. Other key results from the UComms commissioned poll of 726 residents in Cowper over the 14-15 April, include: More than 70% of respondents either ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ that the NSW Mid-North Coast should maintain a sustainable native forestry industry 3 in 4 respondents believe state forests in the region should be maintained for recreational uses, like camping, horse riding and dog walking, over conversion to national park 95% of respondents either ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ that timber and timber products should be labelled with their country of origin Almost 60% of respondents disagreed that forestry plantations should be subject to any special new taxes Teal-Independent Caz Heise is ahead in the seat over the Nationals’ Pat Conaghan, with a 53-47 two-party preferred result returned in the poll Almost 8% of voters are still undecided as to which candidate or party will receive their first preference vote. “Voters in Cowper need to be aware, if they vote for Caz Heise, they’re voting for a candidate that wants to shut native forestry down, a decision that would devastate the Mid-North Coast of NSW,” AFPA CEO Diana Hallam said. “Furthermore, according to our polling, Caz Heise’s position on native forestry is the opposite of what the majority of her own voters want.” The NSW native forest industry is responsible for almost 9000 full-time local jobs, many of which are located in Cowper. It also delivers almost $3 billion in gross revenue and adds more than $1 billion to NSW’s gross value add. “This polling is also a message to other Teals and industry opponents contesting the Federal Election that native forestry cannot just be crossed out with the flick of a pen,” Ms Hallam said. “You’re dealing with people’s lives here and without native forestry, the economic and community devastation would be far reaching in places that have built themselves on the sector over decades, some places longer than that,” she said.

For Tasmanian farmers, native forestry is similar to any other crop, but with a longer rotation period and greater utility, it’s a land type which also includes multiple enterprises such as grazing, cropping, wood production, carbon production and animal husbandry. We see the majority of forestry today as contributing to ecosystem services and enhancing biodiversity through contemporary forest management practices such as selective harvesting, thinning as well as being a profit centre in long-term financial planning. But what is native forest? The term is used almost as a weapon in some circles where calls for an end to native forest logging are made almost on an hourly basis. But native forest logging is not clear fell logging – far from it. For farmers, logging native forest is all about the manner in which farmers manage their native forest estate to further develop the health of the overall forest. We’re talking about fuel reduction burns that protect the broader environment and community and with it the production of high-quality timber and value-added timber products. This process stimulates new tree growth that absorbs carbon from the atmosphere, generating high-value wood products that can sequester carbon for up to 200 years and serve as sustainable building materials, as demonstrated in the recent construction of the new St Luke’s building in Launceston It’s time to shift the conversation about forestry on farms and look at it through a lens of credible science – the mainstream narrative should be all about responsible land stewardship, delivering economic, social, and environmental benefits, improving biodiversity, reducing fire risks and generating income for farming families. Ultimately, stopping native logging in state forests is a government decision. But there’s no rational science-based argument to stop private landowners and custodians of large private forests in Tasmania from managing native forest resources proactively and sustainably. Private forests are there for the use and benefit of everyone – it’s hypocritical for some to say stop all logging. We all know that if we stop well-managed practices here, there’s still timber being logged out of rainforests throughout Southeast Asia. The bulk of Tasmania is dry sclerophyll forest, and for it to regenerate it needs active management, weed control and fuel reduction. This is a way to biodiversity in our forests without clear felling as the only form of harvest. The work of farmers on private forests is increasing the biodiversity, and sequestering more carbon as a consequence, providing both public and private benefits. Private native forest management must be driven by contemporary science that will unlock a whole range of economic and social benefits. In a bigger sense, it all about food security and ensuring the amount of farmland isn’t decreasing in Australia, where urban encroachment driven by an increasing population creates more demand for more food. The community trusts farmers to produce the food, fibre and pharmaceuticals needed by all of us – why wouldn’t we do the same with our native forest estate? Ian Sauer is the president of TasFarmers. He has been actively involved in agriculture, natural resource management, policy formulation, project development, management and community development over the past 30 years.