Australia’s native forests are unique and beautiful. They are home to some of our most iconic wildlife, are unceded Country for traditional owners and store enormous amounts of carbon.
Yet, our environmental laws are failing to protect Australia’s native forests.
Under our current logging laws, the Regional Forest Agreements, the logging industry is given a special exemption from complying with Australia’s national environmental laws.
The Regional Forest Agreements have allowed for decades of reckless destruction of native forests across Australia, pushed native wildlife to the brink of extinction, endangered our water supplies, heightened bushfire risk, and made the climate crisis worse.
The Government has a responsibility to stop this destruction and fix our broken environmental laws. Yet, Labor has failed to act on both a state and federal level.
Enough is enough. Australia’s native forests need urgent protection - for their role in soaking up and storing carbon, as the traditional lands of First Nations peoples, for their totems and songlines, water, wildlife and beauty.
That’s why the Greens recently introduced the Ending Native Forest Logging Bill 2023. If passed, this Bill will end the destructive logging of Australia’s precious native forests, by repealing the Regional Forest Agreements and closing the loopholes used by the logging industry to skirt our national environment laws.
It is time the Labor Government stop prioritising corporate profits and industry lobbies over people and the environment. It’s time to end native forest logging in Australia.
Sign our petition calling on the federal government to pass our Ending Native Forest Logging Bill 2023 and to immediately end the logging of Australia’s native forests.
Learn more: Greens plan to Green Australia