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For more than two decades, Tasmania’s Regional Forest Agreement has delivered stable forest management, a rigorous reserve system, and the long-term investment confidence that sustains thousands of regional jobs. That stability is now under serious threat and the Federal Government’s own words are beginning to reveal why. In a recent interview the Federal Environmental Minister had the opportunity to give the native forest industry certainty about the new environmental reforms however, his response suggested the resource could be further restricted. This appears inconsistent with repeated assurances from the Federal Government that its position on native forestry has not changed and that it will not abandon timber workers. Either the reforms preserve the current operating framework, or they do not. Before we go further, let us be clear about what is at stake. Tasmania’s forestry sector is a fully integrated system. The RFA underpins activity across public and private land, across plantations, manufacturing, and the wood that builds Tasmanian homes. Undermining the RFA doesn’t affect just one part of the industry it undermines the entire sector. A persistent misconception in this debate is that the RFA operates as a loophole that allows forestry to sidestep environmental scrutiny. This is fundamentally wrong, and a Federal Court judge said as much in 2024. The Court confirmed that an RFA provides an alternative mechanism by which the objects of the EPBC Act can be achieved not avoided through an intergovernmental framework that allocates environmental responsibility to the State. The current RFA exemption sunsets on 1 July 2027. What the industry needs is certainty that any future accredited framework will allow the same level of sustainable harvesting as exists today. Without that assurance, businesses cannot plan, invest, or guarantee future timber supply. The Minister has also argued that if Tasmania’s forestry standards are genuinely world-class, the industry should have nothing to fear from new national environmental standards. While superficially reasonable, that argument misses the point. The issue is not whether our practices meet the standards it is that the standards have not yet been defined, and industry doesn’t know whether they will be workable in practice. Growers and processors are being asked to invest, plan and operate without knowing the rules they will be required to meet. Until the new standards are settled, uncertainty will continue to hang over the industry’s future. The TFPA is not seeking special treatment or reduced environmental accountability. We are asking for something straightforward. A clear, public guarantee, backed by a credible transition pathway, that no Tasmanian forest business will be worse off under these reforms. We have engaged in good faith. Now it’s up to the Federal Government to provide the certainty we need.   By Nick Steel, TPFA CEO, as published in The Mercury newspaper in Hobart

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