Forest Products Industry

Evidence presented to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Victoria’s 2026 bushfires has exposed serious failures in Labor’s bushfire preparedness and response. The Nationals and Liberals have tabled a Minority Report, refusing to accept the Environment and Planning Committee’s Report which papers over the deep structural flaws and policy failures of the government. Source: Timberbiz The Nationals’ Member for Eastern Victoria and Committee member, Melina Bath said the Majority Report overlooks the experiences of affected communities and frontline responders and fails to reflect the full weight of evidence. “Witness testimony and submissions paint a damning picture of Labor’s Victoria’s bushfire preparedness,” Ms Bath said. “The Inquiry heard evidence of fuel management failures, declining emergency service capability, leadership shortages, ageing equipment and growing bushfire risk. “These findings lay bare the consequences of years of Labor’s poor policy decisions, inadequate preparedness and its failure to act on repeated warnings. “Labor’s restructure of emergency services, funding decisions and workforce shortages have weakened the CFA’s capability and reduced frontline preparedness. “One of the most alarming revelations was the CFA’s original response to questions on notice was sanitised by the Government and Cabinet before being resubmitted.” Ms Bath, who is also Shadow Minister for Public Land Management said Labor has neglected critical bushfire mitigation, failing to undertake adequate fuel reduction, roadside vegetation management and the creation of strategic fuel breaks. “Years of Labor’s failures have resulted in hazardous fuel loads across the state and an elevated bushfire risk. “Our Minority Report calls for more fuel reduction, better roadside management and strategic fuel breaks to protect communities, critical infrastructure and firefighters. “It provides practical recommendations to strengthen CFA capability, improve emergency management and enhance protection for regional communities. “Labor was repeatedly warned about bushfire risks, yet communities, volunteers and first responders were left to bear the consequences.” The Nationals Member for Lowan, Emma Kealy, said the two reports confirmed what locals had been warning about for years. “Fuel loads are being mismanaged, volunteers are still forced to ride in tankers with no rear cabin protection, and trucks and tankers are suffering mechanical failures because they are well beyond their service life,” she said. “My community has lived through the consequences of the Labor government’s failures year after year, and we simply cannot afford another fire season where our hard-working CFA crews don’t have the necessary resources and support to protect us. “Only an elected Nationals and Liberals Government will scrap the Emergency Services Tax and properly fund the CFA, effectively manage our firefighting fleet, and back our selfless volunteers who put their lives on the line.”

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A former president of NSW Forest Products Association now Timber NSW Lexie Hurford passed away this week aged 86 after a short illness. Mrs Hurford had been presented with an award for more than 45 years of dedicated and outstanding service to the forest industry. Source: Timberbiz “She is a legend of our industry,” Maree McCaskill, chief executive of Timber NSW, said. Ms McCaskill said Mrs Hurford had made an outstanding contribution to the development of forestry policy, environmental management, and sustainable resource governance in Australia over a distinguished career spanning more than 60 years. “Throughout her adult life, Lexie Hurford has been recognised as one of Australia’s most influential forestry policy advocates, combining practical industry experience, and strategic public policy expertise to advance the sustainable management of Australia’s forests and natural resources. “In addition to this, Lexie has remained grounded in the Northern Rivers community with a particular interest in investment attraction and job creation for the region and an understated role as an advocate and leader of women’s roles in business.” Her work had been instrumental in shaping contemporary approaches to forest management, balancing environmental stewardship, biodiversity conservation, community expectations, and the economic needs of regional Australia. Through senior leadership positions across government, industry and advisory organisations, she had consistently advocated for evidence-based policy development and long-term stewardship of Australia’s forest estate. As the first woman elected as Chairperson of the NSW Forest Products Association in 1999, Mrs Hurford broke new ground in the Australian forestry sector, providing visionary leadership to the state’s peak timber industry body while championing sustainable forest management, regional employment, industry innovation and greater participation of women in forestry. “Lexie has played a key role in the development and implementation of forestry strategies that have influenced both state and national policy settings. Her expertise has been sought by governments, industry bodies, research organisations, and community stakeholders, reflecting the respect she has earned across a diverse range of sectors,” Ms McCaskill said. A passionate advocate for sustainable forestry, Mrs Hurford worked to strengthen the relationship between environmental outcomes and productive land management and was a strong supporter of scientific research, innovation and best-practice forest management, helping to ensure that Australia’s forestry sector remains internationally respected for its environmental standards and sustainability credentials. She served as Chair of the Regional Development Board from 1995 to 2003, providing strategic leadership during a period of significant economic and community change in regional NSW. Through her stewardship, the Board worked to strengthen regional industries, support employment growth, and promote sustainable economic development across rural communities. Beyond her direct policy contributions, Mrs Hurford dedicated significant effort to mentoring emerging professionals within the forestry and natural resource sectors. Her leadership has helped foster a new generation of forestry practitioners, scientists and policymakers committed to sustainable resource management. The significance of the Hurford family’s contribution to regional industry and investment was recognised by senior New South Wales government leaders, including Premier Bob Carr during his term of office from 1995 to 2005 Ms McCaskill said that Mrs Hurford’s career had been characterised by integrity, professionalism and a commitment to public service. Her work contributed substantially to the protection and sustainable management of Australia’s forests while supporting employment, economic development and community resilience in regional Australia. “Lexie’s influence can be seen in the evolution of modern forestry policy frameworks, improved environmental management practices, stronger industry-government partnerships, and the promotion of sustainable forest management principles across Australia<‘ she said. “Her contribution has had lasting national significance and continues to benefit both present and future generations of Australians.”

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The ABC has reported that more than 80 people are to lose their jobs at Opal’s Maryvale Mill in Gippsland. The company blamed the Victorian Government for the changes to its operations due to the failure of the government to secure timber for Opal’s production lines. Source: Timberbiz Opal has previously cut jobs at the mill and experienced a number of shutdowns. The mill permanently shut down its white paper manufacturing operations, including the decommissioning of Paper Machine 2 and Paper Machine 5. This structural shutdown was triggered by the sudden end of VicForests’ native timber supply, resulting in 200 job losses and shifting the mill’s focus strictly to packaging and brown paper. According to the ABC the company is now blaming the state government for this latest decision to axe another 84 jobs. “The end of white paper production has significantly changed the operational footprint of the mill, and the site has been working to right-size its operations as a kraft and recycled paper manufacturer,” the company said in a statement. “This has included ongoing fixed cost reductions to align with its reduced footprint.” The ABC reported that Opal said it was to make cuts across salaried team members and team members covered by enterprise agreements. In a statement, the company said it suffered “substantial losses due to the Victorian Government’s failure to meet its contractual obligations under the Wood Pulp Agreement”. This latest cut follows years of disputes at the facility. In the first months of 2025 Opal locked out more than 300 CFMEU production workers with only one hour’s notice. The company initiated the 30-day, unpaid lockout after seven workers staged a short, protected stop-work action during Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA) negotiations. The dispute ended on February 16, 2025, when workers voted to accept a new agreement with wage increases. In February 2024 members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) were locked out of the site early in the morning following a breakdown in maintenance EBA negotiations over member quotas. In June 2020 Australian Paper (before rebranding to Opal) locked out more than 100 workers for three weeks. Management used the lockout to complete maintenance after employees took protected strike action during a long-running industrial dispute.

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John Lawrence raises an important question about how Tasmania measures the full value of its public production forests. That discussion should consider not only accounting treatments and hypothetical land costs, but also the broader economic, environmental and community benefits delivered through the responsible management of our forests. The claim that Sustainable Timber Tasmania’s published financial profit is merely a “paper profit” overlooks the figures designed to show how the underlying business is actually performing. In 2024-2025, STT recorded a $7.5m increase in the value of its biological assets. It also separately reported an underlying net profit of $0.8m, defined as operating revenue less operating expenditure and positive operating cash flow of $1.8m. It paid an ordinary dividend to the state and has now recorded eight consecutive profitable results. Since 2017, STT has paid $30m to the state in dividends and made contributions to on-island processing funds to help the local sawmilling sector modernise its equipment. Importantly, STT’s accounts are prepared under Australian Accounting Standards, including the standard applying to biological assets. The forest valuation is undertaken by an independent specialist and examined by Audit Tasmania, which concluded that the 2024–2025 accounts presented a true and fair view of STT’s financial performance, position and cash flows. STT is happy to acknowledge that such accounting standards do not capture every social and environmental value provided by Tasmania’s forests and it is reasonable to debate the limitations of the accounting process. However, STT is not using a valuation method of its own invention. We are applying the accounting rules required for biological assets, which measure the value of the standing timber, which are not designed to measure every economic, environmental and community benefit. That distinction is important because valuing the standing timber separately does not mean the broader costs of managing the forest are ignored. STT’s financial statements include contractor and freight costs, property management, local government rates, road depreciation, forest re-establishment, and fire prevention and suppression. For example, whilst reporting a financial profit last financial year, STT also carried out maintenance on 3040km of existing roads, constructed 24km of new roads, conducted works on 5566ha of forest, sowed 100 million locally sourced seeds and achieved a 99.5 per cent regeneration success rate across the areas assessed. STT also planted about half a million seedlings in restocking timber plantations that had been previously harvested. The characterisation of STT as having “rent-free” access is similarly incomplete. STT is not a private company handed free land to exploit. It is a government business enterprise established under legislation to manage Permanent Timber Production Zone land for multiple users, while supporting economic growth and employment and supplying agreed volumes of timber. It manages a forest-road network of more than 10,000km, providing access for communities, tourism, beekeepers, hunters, fishers, emergency services and other land managers. It also manages hundreds of leases, licences and easements, supports apiary sites, undertakes conservation, research programs, biodiversity outcomes, carbon storage and provides a trained statewide firefighting capability with about 16 per cent of PTPZ, around 129,000ha, being managed purely for conservation. The $12m STT receives from government is transparently identified as payment for community service obligations: keeping public production land managed and accessible, undertaking fuel-reduction work, supporting fire prevention and detection, and helping suppress fires on non-production forests and adjoining land. That is not a concealed subsidy to log sales. It is payment for public services the state would still need to allocate should timber harvesting end. The wider economic contribution of STT’s forestry activities also matters. During 2024–2025, STT paid $109m to 544 Tasmanian businesses, with 87 per cent of its purchases made locally. About $45m went to harvesting and haulage contractors. More than 1.2 million tonnes of forest products were harvested and transported for Tasmanian processing, including high-quality eucalypt sawlogs and special-species timbers. Those figures represent regional Tasmanian businesses – including contractors, truck drivers, sawmill workers, engineers, mechanics, furniture makers, builders and small businesses. Most importantly, value creation does not stop when a log leaves the forest, that is only the beginning. Once delivered, the value of the log and the number of people employed continues to grow as it moves through local processing, manufacturing, construction, retail spending, wages and household incomes. None of this means native forestry should be beyond scrutiny. STT must keep improving efficiency, transparency, forest practices and environmental outcomes. It must account for carbon, biodiversity, cultural values, water, recreation and future generations, while meeting supply commitments and maintaining financial discipline. The evidence suggests Tasmania is not carrying a cost burden from public production forestry. Through employment, processing, public land management, fire protection, regional investment, community access and dividend returns to the state, Tasmania is receiving substantial value from its forest industry. Dean Kearney is the chief executive of Sustainable Timber Tasmania

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