The state government will end native forest logging early in Victoria, bringing forward its 2030 deadline in a move that will have a widespread impact on jobs.
The government confirmed it would provide $200 million to support workers and their families as part of the package in Tuesday’s budget to phase out native timber logging by January 1 next year.
The state government will end native forest logging early in Victoria.Credit: Steven Siewert
Environmentalists hailed the decision, saying it was long overdue.
Environmental groups have fought for decades to end native timber logging in Victoria, with some launching several legal challenges in a bid to force the government’s hand.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the decision gave communities, businesses and partners in the supply chain the certainty they deserved.
“It’s not good enough for us to just cross our fingers and hope for the best,” he said. “We need a plan to support workers, their families and support local jobs.”
Timber Towns Victoria president Karen Stephens said she was devastated by the early closure and warned the Gippsland region would be hard hit, particularly towns such as Orbost, Swifts Creek and Heyfield.
“If you take the timber sector out of those communities, what have they got?” she said. “They’re not all going to become baristas.”
The looming job losses come as the Latrobe Valley grapples with the future closure of coal mines and power plants.
The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union reported the accelerated shutdown would result in at least 1000 workers being laid off in 2023-24 compared to the original plan to stop native forest harvesting by 2030.
Post-fire forests in Rich Forest, east of Orbost in East Gippsland.Credit: Goongerah Environment Centre
The union’s manufacturing division national secretary Michael O’Connor lashed the timing of the government’s decision, accusing it of using the state budget to deflect attention from the announcement.
“The Victorian government has again demonstrated its arrogance and ignorance by acting
recklessly, heartlessly and unilaterally,” he said.
Australian National University forest ecology professor David Lindenmayer said it was the correct decision.
“I support what the Victorian government has done here,” he said.
Lindenmayer said state-owned logging agency VicForests had been losing money for years and keeping it afloat was not financially viable.
The latest annual report from VicForests shows the agency recorded a $54 million-dollar loss in the past financial year.
Lindenmayer said ending native logging would allow for economic opportunities, including expanding tourism in those areas and reforestation programs to enable logged forests to recover.
Lindenmayer said 30 per cent of logged native forests had not regenerated properly. However, he said ending native logging six years early was the equivalent of preventing the emissions from 730,000 cars every year.
The Victorian Greens deputy leader Ellen Sandell said the government had been dragged “kicking and screaming” toward the realisation that native logging was unsustainable.
“For too long Labor has given millions of taxpayer dollars to the logging industry to destroy our precious native forests,” she said.
The decision comes after Opal Australian Paper, which is controlled by Japanese company Nippon, confirmed in February it would cease the production of white paper.
The Victorian government is contractually required to supply pulpwood to Maryvale pulp and paper mill, which is the biggest employer in the Latrobe Valley. Pulpwood is a byproduct of harvesting saw logs.
Earlier this month, The Age revealed legal advice commissioned by environmental groups could be released early.
Ellen Sandell of the Victorian Greens said the government had been dragged “kicking and screaming” toward the realisation that native logging was unsustainable.Credit: Simon Schluter
John Waddington, a boiler attendant and supervisor at Australian Sustainable Hardwoods, said the announcement created a sombre mood at his workplace even though management assured staff no jobs were under threat at the company.
He said many workers in the industry would be feeling betrayed, particularly in Heyfield where much of the timber sector is based.
“I think a lot of people will be shattered,” he said. “We’re the majority industry in this town.”
Wilderness Society national campaigns director Amelia Young said Victoria’s native forests should be managed for the community’s benefit and not multinational paper and packaging companies.
“Living, breathing, intact forests are the best safeguard we have to mitigate climate change,” she said.
Environment Victoria chief executive Jono La Nauze welcomed the decision while acknowledging it was a difficult day for workers who made a living from native forest logging.
He said the early phaseout of native logging would bring new job possibilities.
“Indeed, the need for workers in our forests is increasing: from controlling invasive plants and animals, through to managing the growing threat of wildfires in a changing climate, there are many more jobs to be created in caring for our forests than will be lost in ending unsustainable logging,” he said.
In a statement, VicForests said it would continue working closely with the industry and remained focused on delivering timber until January 1 next year.
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