Forest Bill: Andrews backs down on timber worker penalties

A controversial bill that would see timber workers fined up to $21k for breaching a code of practice has been pulled from debate.

Logging contractor Colin Robin is one of the 2500 timber industry workers who can now get on with the job of supplying native timber, without the threat of hefty penalties. Picture: Dannika Bonser

The Andrews Labor Government has pulled its controversial Forests Bill from debate in Parliament’s Upper House, which would have slapped timber workers with fines of up to $21,000 for even the most minor breaches of a Code of Practice for Timber Harvesting that is still under review.

The Government introduced the Forests Legislation Amendment (Compliance and Enforcement) Bill 2019 to the Upper House on Tuesday.

But after intense pressure from timber workers, their lobby groups, the Opposition and Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union the government suddenly withdrew the Bill from debate this morning.

The Bill would have introduced new criminal offences if timber workers failed to comply with requirements under the Code of Practice for Timber Production and forced contractors to hand over their diaries and other documents to the conservation regulator.

However, the Labor Government is yet to release its new overhauled Code of Practice, leaving timber workers in the dark about what they can do.

“In a spectacular backflip, Labor has caved in to intense pressure from the timber industry, halting the Parliamentary debate on their controversial new laws that would cut-down timber workers,” Liberal industry and manufacturing spokeswoman Bridget Vallence said.

“This Forests Bill has been botched from the beginning and the Andrews Labor Government has been forced into an embarrassing backdown after problems were exposed by both the Liberal-Nationals and the CFMEU.

“The strict liability provisions in the bill would have left timber workers out in the cold and completely vulnerable to unfair prosecutions for just doing their job.

“The Andrews Labor Government must now guarantee that it will withdraw this bad legislation from any further debate and go through a proper consultation process with the timber industry and workers after the new Code of Practice has been released, and before subjecting them to these unfair and job destroying proposed laws.”

Forest and Wood Communities Australia managing director Justin Law said it was “great news for timber workers concerned about the potential massive fines for minor breaches of a code we haven’t even seen yet”.

“We hope the government now sees common sense and kills the bill completely.

“Timber workers are already under enough stress and uncertainty. Hopefully now they can get on with harvesting the timber that’s needed to rebuild our economy in the wake of Covid.”

The beleaguered timber industry feared the new laws would have encouraged anti-logging activists to harass and dob in harvest and haulage contractors for the most minor code breaches, from dropping a tree into a buffer zone to harvesting just outside a designated coupe.

Mr Law said timber workers were already suffering the effects of years of legal challenges, activists mounting legal challenges that shut down coupes, followed by the Andrews Governments’ decision to phase out native forest logging by 2030.

When Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio introduced the Bill to the Lower House in November 2019, she said it would improve the regulation of timber harvesting by prohibiting “any person from undertaking timber harvesting operations in state forest, unless they are undertaken in accordance with a relevant licence, permit, allocation order or other authorisation”, which is what Victorians expected.