Timber supply crisis will devastate housing supply and construction sector, report says

A looming timber shortage will devastate housing supply and the construction industry, a new report warns.

Australia faces a deficit of 250,000 timber frames by 2035, according to the Master Builders and the Australian Forest Products Association.

A looming timber crisis will devastate housing supply and the construction industry, a new report warns.

With state and federal forestry ministers meeting on Wednesday, the new analysis from Master Builders and the Australian Forest Products Association says the nation faces a deficit of 250,000 timber frames by 2035 – equal to the number of homes in Geelong and Newcastle combined – unless new tree plantations get government backing.

Forestry and construction sector chiefs also want a national cabinet-level plan to support growing the timber supply, saying it is a matter of “sovereign capability.”

The timber deficit will cause a crisis for the industry and the nation cannot rely on timber imports from overseas, Master Builders chief executive Denita Wawn told The Australian.

“This analysis is a wake-up call for decision makers to act now to avoid a construction industry crisis in the next decade,” Ms Wawn said on Wednesday.

“It’s in Australia’s national interest to secure our local timber supply by ensuring our timber plantation stock can meet future housing demand.

“The housing construction industry is the engine room of the Australian economy and it needs a consistent, reliable domestic timber supply. As the timber shortages of the past 18 months has shown, we cannot rely on imports to fill the gap when we have increased construction activity. We need to act now.”

The analysis found NSW, Tasmania and Queensland will all be more than 50,000 timber frames short by 2035, Western Australia faces a shortage of more than 40,000 frames, and Victoria faces a deficit of more than 76,000.

Master Builders and the AFPA are calling on forestry ministers to immediately offer support to sawmills and back shovel-ready projects, which would increase sawlog recovery in the long term.

The industry and construction sectors also want national cabinet to give forestry businesses access to carbon credits and prioritise funds to make logging less emissions-intensive.

AFPA chief executive Ross Hampton said housing supply in the next decade would depend on a solution to the timber-supply issue.

“Australian governments need to work together on a national plan that delivers an immediate increase in our plantation estate to ensure Australia can meet its future housing construction needs. Future generations of Aussie homeowners are counting on it.”