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AUGUST 2016 • P: (03) 9888 4834 • www.timberbiz.com.au
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Politicians don’t think 30 years ahead "We are overdue for informed public policy leadership and a community mandate to step up to the plate and play ball. "
By David Chandler OAM
I
recently gave the keynote address at the Timber Queensland Conference, which was titled “Shaking the Trees.” Our forest industry is vitally important. What struck me during Timber Queensland’s (TQ) field visits and conference was the foresight and boldness needed to invest in the timber industry. Planting new forests requires at least a 30-year outlook. And you would not build a new timber mill or processing operation without a line of sight to a viable wood supply. Above all of this, it struck me how seriously the stewardship of this industry is so
deeply embedded at every level, and how that stewardship might be used to drive the potential of Australian forests, wood and fibre innovation related industries into the future. This level of custodianship may have been years in the making, but there is no doubt that its truly embedded now. The theme of the TQ Conference was about opportunities and challenges for growth and investment in QLD Forest and timber industry. It could have passed for an election slogan, but there there was much more to it than that. Here are a few issues that our politicians should get their heads around which might help them resonate better with the community: • Australia has a wood trade deficit exceeding $2 billion each year. And that’s growing,
because our population is growing and our forests have never kept pace. If you simply extend this trade shortfall out 30 years, we are talking about $60 billion. I believe this trade deficit will be wider as new engineered timber and wood technologies enable increased applications in construction, especially multi-storey. • Planting new forests, and sensibly managing multiple use forests the sequestration of atmospheric CO2 through an increased uptake in wood-based construction materials, has great potential to help Australia meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets. But it will take political will to provide the certainty needed for the industry to make the required investment in this future.
The scale of these challenges become apparent by tracking Australia’s various natural ecosystem types since 1788. This tracking reveals that open forests have been 45 per cent cleared, woodland forests 32 per cent cleared, Mallee forests 30 per cent cleared, rainforests 25 per cent cleared, coastal wetlands in southern Australia over 60 per cent destroyed, and temperate lowland grasslands over 99 per cent cleared. The Greens claim to have provided the public and
political advocacy for the protection of Australia’s most precious of forests and natural scapes. But the short-term nature of our political cycles creates negative counter forces to developing a forest and timber industry future that Australians should rightly aspire to. The differing cycles and complexions of federal, state and territory politics makes a comprehensive national industry plan even more challenging and undermines trust. Continued on page 10
Assistant Minister for Forestry can unlock jobs Government should have reinstated forestry to a full, and growth rather than Assistant, Ministry. THE RE-APPOINTMENT of Senator Anne Ruston as the Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources with responsibility for forestry has been seen as a definite plus for the industry. However, despite the continuity factor plus Senator Ruston’s now obvious acceptance of the industry,
there is a strong belief that the Government should have reinstated forestry to a full, rather than Assistant, Ministry. Ross Hampton, Chief Executive Officer of Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) said it was disappointing that Prime Minister MalcolmTurnbull had not taken the chance to do this.
“However, forest industries will be very pleased that the Prime Minister has decided that the energetic South Australian Senator Anne Ruston, will continue in the role. Senator Ruston worked hard and delivered strong policy commitments during the election campaign and is the ideal person to Continued on page 4
¢ Senator Anne Ruston