Media release – Jeremy Rockliff, Premier, Minister for State Development, Trade and the Antarctic, Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Member for Braddon; Felix Ellis, Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Management, Minister for Skills, Training and Workforce Growth, Minister for Resources, Minister for Racing, Leader of the House, Member for Braddon, 29 February 2024

Keeping Tasmania’s Forestry Industry Strong

A re-elected majority Rockliff Liberal Government will unlock Tasmania’s native forestry “Wood Bank”, providing an up to 10 per cent boost in the annual supply of high-quality sawlog to Tasmanian sawmillers.

“The Liberals are the strongest supporters of Tasmania’s high-value native forestry industry, backing in Tasmanian sawmillers, contractors, and local jobs,” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.

“Under the devastating Labor-Greens Tasmanian Forestry Agreement signed in 2011, the area of production forest land in Tasmania was nearly halved and wood supply to local sawmillers was gutted.

“Timber communities across the state were decimated and two out of every three jobs in the sector were sacrificed by Labor seeking to appease the Greens.

“Following our election in 2014, we rescued 356,000 hectares of production native forest from being permanently locked up, and set it aside in a “Wood Bank” – the Future Potential Production Forest – for a rainy day.

“That rainy day has now arrived.

“As a result of both the closure of native forest industries in Western Australia and Victoria under Labor Governments, as well as growing global demand for sustainably produced wood and fibre products, now is the right time to open this Wood Bank.”

That’s why a re-elected majority Liberal Government will:

  • Make available up to 40,000 hectares of the Future Potential Production Forest “Wood Bank”;
  • Make available an additional wood basket of up to 158,000 cubic metres of high-quality sawlog to Tasmanian industry – that’s an up to 10 per cent increase annually; and
  • Make this new supply exclusively available to existing Tasmanian customers.

“Importantly, by making this additional timber available exclusively to existing Tasmanian customers of Sustainable Timber Tasmania, this will ensure that Tasmania’s native forestry sawmillers have more of the timber they need,” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said.

Minister for Resources, Felix Ellis, said that Tasmania’s forest industry supports over 5,700 direct and indirect jobs, not just in harvesting but also across transport, associated support industries and sawmills around the State.

“Sawlog from our native forests is of high value and used in products ranging from high-quality floorboards to feature walls to bespoke furniture,” Minister Ellis said.

“It’s important to remember, more than 50 per cent, or 3.43 million hectares, of Tasmania is in formal reserves, making Tasmania one of the most protected places on earth. This includes around 58 per cent of the state’s native forests and over 85 per cent of its old-growth forests.

“Within 100 days of re-election, we will commence the process to unlock the Wood Bank as outlined in Section 7 of the Rebuilding the Forestry Industry Act 2014.

“We have already identified 27 parcels of FPPF land totalling approximately 39,000 hectares of largely regrowth forest in the northeast and northwest, which is suitable for conversion back to production forest.

“The parcels have been identified on the basis that the state’s comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) reserve system is not compromised, that there is no negative impact on STT’s current and future certification and that maximise carbon carrying capacity, fire protection and recreational opportunities.

“Additionally, areas of regrowth forests with previous forest management and roading activity have been prioritised.

“We will work closely with industry to implement this process of unlocking the Wood Bank within the first 100 days of a re-elected majority Rockliff Liberal Government.

“Once opened, the timber from this Wood Bank will be made available through Sustainable Timber Tasmania exclusively to existing Tasmanian-based customers.

“This process will make available up to an additional 158,000 cubic metres of high-quality sawlog to Tasmanian sawmillers. It is expected that this will provide an up to 10 per cent boost in annual supply to the industry.

“Only a re-elected majority Rockliff Liberal Government has a 2030 Strong Plan to keep Tasmania’s native forest industry strong.”

Media release – Independent Member for Lyons, John Tucker MP, 29 February 2024

Rockliff’s timber plan will hasten the end of native forestry in Tasmania.

The Premier’s plan to restart the Tasmanian forest wars will not deliver one extra log to any mill in Tasmania.

Instead, it will put every job in the native forest sector at risk by inviting intervention of the major retailers who control the industries supply line.

The announcement today is a cruel hoax designed to deceive voters ahead of the state election.

It ignores the market power of major retailers which was a crucial factor in the agreement reached in 2012.

Industry would have preferred a better outcome but was forced by commercial realities to accept that the deal was the best they could get.

It will be no different this time. The big retailers are not prepared to shed commercial blood for the sake for the premier’s latest political stunt.

The hardwood timber industry in Tasmania has been trying to secure long term resource security by guaranteed access to high quality saw log from hardwood plantations.

The Premier is not interested, and the industry is facing a very bleak future. The hard wood sawmilling industry is sick of being used as a political football.

The Liberals have had ten years to do something about resource security and have done nothing. The plan now will do nothing except bring on uncertainty for the entire native forest sector.

Media release – Bob Brown Foundation, 29 February 2024

Rockliff makes forests key to election – Bob Brown Foundation defiant

“The Liberals’ commitment to destroy 40,000 hectares of Tasmania’s wild and scenic forests, set aside for conservation under the Tasmanian Forest Agreement, may see me, for one, spending time in jail for peacefully defending those forests and their wildlife,” Bob Brown said in Hobart today.

“I expect there will be hundreds more arrested for defending the forests despite the Liberals’ draconian anti-protests laws, and Tasmania will be plunged into a dark age of global condemnation for destroying this natural heritage. Most of the forests will go to woodchips exported to China and Taiwan though, deceitfully, Rockliff never mentions the word ‘woodchips’,” Brown said.

“One of the most scandalous things about this proposal is that industry has already been compensated with taxpayers’ funds for withdrawing from these very forests. The 2013 agreement between Premier Giddings and Prime Minister Gillard provided $58 million for this purpose. Will Rockliff refund the taxpayers’ money the industry was given when it agreed to save the forests?”

“This is 2024. The world is in the twin crises of global heating and the mass extinction of birds, animals and plants. The best way to solve both is to protect native forests. Flattening and incinerating our forests and exporting most of the extracted logs as woodchips for products much of which will end up in rubbish tips in the northern hemisphere, is bizarre and culpable behaviour by the Liberals. Prime Minister Albanese should intervene and save the forests or, at least, get back the $58 million of taxpayers’ money spent to protect the forests,” Brown said.

Bob Brown Foundation is planning a giant rally for the forests in Hobart on 17 March, a week before the state goes to the polls.

Media release – Rosalie Woodruff MP, Greens Leader, 29 February 2024

Greens Condemn Liberals’ Forests Move – What Will Labor Do?

The Liberals’ decision to remove protections on tens of thousands of hectares of high conservation value forest and hand them to industry for logging is appalling. This is devastating but, despite the climate crisis, not surprising.

For a decade Liberal politicians have gleefully cheerled the rapid destruction of vast swathes of Tasmania’s native forests.

Under the Liberals, the precious habitat of endangered species – like the swift parrot – has been logged, pushing them towards extinction. They’re responsible for the millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere as precious forests were torched with high intensity burns.

Not satisfied with their decade of destruction, now the Liberals have announced they are going to follow through on years of threats by expanding logging operations into 356,000 hectares of the high conservation value forests that are supposed to be protected.

This is pure politics in an election campaign. Their divisive decision is a climate crime, and will be opposed by Tasmanians from all walks of life.

Over the past ten years Liberal and Labor politicians have been in lockstep, cheering on the native forest logging industry. Given the Liberals’ announcement, the question now for Labor is simple – will they oppose this outright? Or will they fold once again, and back the Liberals, as they’ve done so many times before?

There’s no avoiding this question for Labor. Either they support keeping these high conservation value forests protected, or they support them being logged. It’s that simple.

For the sake of threatened species and the climate, we hope on this occasion Rebecca White and her colleagues will find a backbone and do the right thing.

Media release – Shane Broad MP, Shadow Minister for Resources, 29 February 2024

Liberals again use forestry industry as political football

For 10 years, saw mill operators and forestry industry leaders have been expressing their concerns about the future of the industry under the Liberals.

Instead of giving the timber industry certainty about the future of forestry in Tasmania, the Liberals have waited until an election and announced a policy clearly aimed at reigniting conflict and using timber industry jobs as a political football.

It was clear that the Liberals have not consulted with the sector on their policy announcement. This was confirmed during Felix Ellis’s interview on ABC this morning when he could not name one sawmiller that supports this initiative.

Clearly, the Liberals’ announcement is nothing more than a stunt.

The state’s forestry industry has been plagued by supply issues and these concerns have been raised with the Liberals on numerous occasions.

The Liberals could have acted when they were in government for 10 years, but they chose not to.

Labor has been talking to industry and will release our full Tasmanian-first Forestry Policy in the coming days.

Unlike the Liberals announcement, this has real solutions that will bolster our economy and secure regional jobs.

It is time for the Liberals to go. Tasmania deserves a better future under a Labor Government.

Forestry industry deserts juvenile minister

Felix Ellis’ forestry policy has been slammed by industry, with the Tasmanian Forest Products Association pulling no punches as it deserts a minister more interested in politics rather than the livelihoods of timber workers.

It is clear Mr Ellis has not consulted with the sector on this failed policy announcement, which has been shown to be nothing more than an election stunt.

This was confirmed during Mr Ellis’s interview on ABC this morning when he could not name one sawmiller that supports this initiative.

The Liberal Government has had 10 years to come to the table and work with the community and peak industry bodies, and they have failed to do so.

Instead, they launched a half-baked policy and completely blindsided the forestry industry.

Mr Ellis’ embarrassing display is a perfect example of why Tasmanians can’t afford 14 years of a Liberal government.

Media release – The Australia Institute, 29 February 2024

Tasmanian Logging Expansion an Environmental Tragedy

Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s decision to expand native forest logging will drive threatened species closer to extinction and is out of step with voters, the Australia Institute warns.

Australia Institute spokesperson for native forests, Vanessa Bleyer said:

“Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s decision to cut down 40,000 hectares of pristine wilderness is an environmental tragedy.

“It will push threatened species closer to the brink and is completely out of step with voters who want to see their precious forests protected.

“Our research shows seven in 10 Australians want native forest logging banned.

“99% of Tasmanians don’t work in forestry and most forestry production already uses plantation timber, not native forests. It does not make economic sense for Tasmania to continue cutting down century-old trees for export to a dwindling number of countries.

“While today’s announcement will have a miniscule effect on Tasmania’s economy, it will be hugely destructive for the environment.

“The Tasmanian government must listen to voters, reverse this appalling decision and end native forest logging for good.”

The Australia Institute Tasmania is hosting a public event ‘Pathway out of native forest logging’ featuring Dr Richard Denniss and Dr Sophie Scamps MP, independent member for Mackellar, at the Launceston Convention Centre from 1pm Friday, March 1.

Media release – Independent Member for Lyons, John Tucker MP, 28 February 2024

PREMIER THREATENS FORESTRY JOBS

Tasmanian forestry jobs are at risk, with the Rockliff Government continuing to ignore a threat from across Bass Strait, according to independent candidate for Lyons, John Tucker.

While the Liberal Party is spending big on campaign ads targeting Labor and the Greens as a risk to the forestry industry, Mr Tucker says the Rockliff Government is threatening to wipe out the state’s hardwood processing mills.

“The Premier’s rampant hypocrisy threatens hundreds of jobs in sawmills across the state and unless the Government changes direction will gut regional communities from Smithton to Southport,” Mr Tucker said.

“This latest Liberal attack on regional Tasmania is the result of Government plans to sell off future hardwood plantation logs to the highest bidder, regardless of the consequences for local mills.”

As a result of this policy, Tasmanian mills will be financially incapable of competing with cashed up Victorians with bank balances stuffed with the best part of $1 billion in compensation for the Labor decision to shut down Victoria’s native forest industry.

“The problem with an open auction for future plantation logs is that it is not a level playing field,” Mr Tucker said.

“But there is a good solution already on the table.

“The Tasmanian Forest Products Association (TFPA) has proposed that a set level of high-quality plantation saw logs should be guaranteed to existing contractors, while putting the rest on the open market through competitive tender.

“Tasmanian mills are also looking for assistance to handle the shift from native forest to plantation timber.

“Additionally, both sides of the parliament need to expand their plans to rewrite Hydro’s Ministerial Charter to include other GBEs, including Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT), to make sure they act in the best interests of Tasmanian jobs.

“Both the Liberal and Labor parties have a simple choice at this election. They can either back the local mills and local workers or continue to sit on the fence while STT ships the plantation logs and processing jobs to Victoria,” Mr Tucker said.

Background

Labor’s so-called Forestry Peace Deal in 2012 slashed wood supply by more than half, after adding significantly to forests in conservation tenures.

Tasmania’s hardwood mills have since been dudded once because not even their highly restricted log supply has been met. Now it appears they will be dudded again because the future plantation logs they have been promised for decades will instead be handed to cashed-up Victorians.

Current native forest wood supply contracts are due to run out in three years and mills need certainty now if they are to invest in a plantation-based future. Instead, they have been offered more uncertainty.

The hardwood millers, through the Tasmanian Forest Products Association, have been attempting to negotiate longer-term supply to secure their future, but the Government is refusing to listen.

Instead, has handed the future wood supply issue to STT, which appears to care nothing for jobs and businesses in regional communities.

We are at a critical junction in the life of the Tasmanian hardwood mills. Native forest yields are declining due to the extensive reservation of our forests for conservation and the future will rely predominantly on the hardwood plantations grown to compensate the processing sector as part of the Regional Forest Agreement, Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement and Helsham.

Since 2012 there has been a legislated requirement for the Government forestry business to deliver a minimum of 137 thousand cubic meters of high-quality saw logs to Tasmanian mills. This legal requirement has been ignored.

In the past five years the high-quality saw log yield has fluctuated from a high of 119,000 cubic metres to a low of 103,000 in 2022-23. The 5-year shortfall is equivalent to a full year’s promised production.

Laws passed by both Liberal and Labor governments pledged compensation for failure to meet contractual obligations, but not a penny has been paid.

The Australian Forest Products Association is among those warning that Victorian mills will be raiding Tasmania and New South Wales for alternative wood supply following the shutdown of the Victorian native forest industry.

Media release – Tasmanian Forest Products Association, 28 February 2024

Industry calls for all candidates to support an expansion of GBE review

Today, the Tasmanian Forest Products Association (TFPA) is calling on all political parties to back the plan for a Government Business Enterprise (GBE) Ministerial Charter Review into Hydro Tasmania, and to expand it to other Tasmanian GBEs.

The promise will see the incoming Government rewrite the Ministerial Charter to instruct Hydro to focus on Tasmanian jobs and value for people across the state.

Chief Executive Officer of the Tasmanian Forest Products Association, Nick Steel said all candidates should embrace the plan and expand the commitment, as it’s clear some of our state’s GBEs do not represent best value for Tasmanian jobs and businesses.

“In forestry, we are seeing a shift in the public estate mix. This is causing concern amongst our members, who are worried their timber supply will be reduced,” Mr Steel said.

“Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) is forging ahead with new contracts, which needs to consider the effects awarding contracts to new entrants in the market will have on existing Tasmanian businesses.

“It seems STT are ignoring the real risks to Tasmanian business and the hundreds of families employed by them – by potentially chasing dollars from often out-of-state businesses.

“Similarly, TasPorts has been adopting an aggressive pricing model, which has had impacts on Tasmanian forestry businesses being able to meet demand for our timber.

“A lack of port improvement on outdated and not fit for purpose ports is also stymieing the ability for us to conduct trade. The reality is, Tasmania is an island state, and our ports are the only way we can open up wider markets for our products.

“Tasmanian forestry is one of the biggest users of the state’s ports, Realistically, if our businesses are unable to meet that demand, it will cost jobs for Tasmanian families, and millions for our economy.

TFPA represents forest growers, harvesters, and manufacturers of timber and paper products.

“That’s why we need to Ministerial Charter Review to be rolled out to more GBEs – which are owned by every Tasmanian – to ensure they operate for the best interest of Tasmanians, both for the economy and for local jobs.

“This is a pivotal moment in how Tasmanian GBEs operate and will determine how they support Tasmanians into the future,” Mr Steel said.