The Victorian Greens have introduced a bill to Parliament that would legislate an end to native forest logging from June this year, and bring forward the transition plan for workers and communities to ensure no-one is left behind.
With reports last week that the white paper plant at Maryvale mill is set to permanently close, it’s time for the Victorian Labor Government to urgently end native forest logging and bring forward its transition package for workers.
The writing has been on the wall for native forest logging in Victoria for some time now.
The Government has been propping up the industry with millions in taxpayer dollars to keep it afloat, because the market for paper made from endangered species habitat is drying up.
Meanwhile, the logging company VicForests has been illegally logging forest areas right across the state - while the Government has looked the other way and left it up to local environment groups and citizens to take the logging company to court.
VicForests has now even been contracted to do ‘salvage logging’ in highly sensitive areas, including national parks, such as the Wombat State Forest and Dandenong Ranges National Park, with this wood and pulp being used for commercial purposes.
The Parliamentary Budget Office calculates that ending native forest logging in 2023 would save Victoria $205 million dollars over the next decade.
It’s time to end native forest logging in Victoria and protect our endangered species habitat.
What does the Bill do?
In essence, the Bill will prohibit the logging of native forests in Victoria from 30 June 2023. This means that neither VicForests or anyone else will be able to log Victoria’s native forests to sell the timber.
The Bill will also repeal the Wood Pulp Agreement Act 1994. The Wood Pulp Act Agreement legislates that at least 300 000 cubic metres of pulp logs must be sourced annually from Victoria's ash forests and delivered to the Maryvale pulp mills. It basically legislates the destruction of our forests.
The Bill is one part of a plan to transition away from logging native forests. As discussed further below, we would also bring forward to now the government’s $200 million transition plan to help affected workers, their families and communities.
Without being able to log native forests, there is no need for VicForests to continue to exist. We would abolish Vic Forests and incorporate its workforce into the Department of the Environment or other entities to focus on protecting rather than destroying Victoria's magnificent forests.
Why is a Bill needed?
The Labor government has indicated its intention to end native forest logging in 2030. However, with the devastating 2019 bushfires, ongoing impacts of climate change and now the Maryvale Mill closing its white paper operations, the time to end native forest logging is now.
We believe a Bill explicitly banning the logging of native forests is needed so other corporate interests do not have the opportunity to convince the government now or in the future to continue to log our native forests.
When will the Bill be voted on and implemented?
The Greens MPs in Victoria introduced the Bill on 21 February 2023. The Bill will be debated in one of the coming sitting weeks of Victorian Parliament but we hope that the Government will bring forward the transition even before the Bill is voted on - there is nothing stopping them from doing that.
The Greens’ Bill would require logging in native forests to end by 30 June 2023, giving the Government over four months to bring forward the transition package. Given that logging has already paused in much of the state, due to VicForests’s illegal activities, this is a realistic timetable.
Will the Bill repeal the anti-protest laws?
Yes, we will also repeal those laws as part of this Bill. They are disgraceful anti-democratic laws pushed through by the Andrews Labor Government in Victoria to protect vested interests and discourage citizens from protesting against logging - they should have never existed in the first place.
What will happen to forests if logging is stopped?
Our forests should be protected for biodiversity and threatened species, not logged and turned into paper. We believe we need new protected areas for our native forests - and consultation should occur with Traditional Owners and communities about how they are managed.
What about jobs?
Let’s be clear - the Labor Government has known for years that this was coming. Demand for white copy paper made from endangered species habitat has been declining for years. The Labor Government could have stepped in and brought forward the transition - but they chose not to. Our plan is to bring forward the transition plan for mill workers, and to transition logging contractors to new jobs in disaster management, prevention and recovery (which many of them already do) and forest regeneration.
Independent costings show that stopping logging now would save Victorian taxpayers $200 million. That money could go towards the transition of jobs and industry. We’re also asking for the Labor Government to bring forward their existing transition package and payments for workers to 2023, and not wait any longer.
VicForests is a state government-owned company that has shown time and again that it has engaged in illegal logging across the state and is unable to follow the law. It also lost over $50 million last year and is constantly being propped up by tax-payer money. With an end to native forest logging, it should be shut down and workers transitioned to either a new entity or to the Department to focus on disaster management, like fire preparedness, and forest protection and regeneration, which are skills that already exist with workers in the organisation..
Where will we get our wood?
Currently around 90% of the product from forests logged in Victoria goes to make items like cheap paper and pallets - only around 2% goes to make high-grade wood products like floorboards or furniture. We have plantations in the west of the state that we currently export overseas. We could use this wood here in Victoria.
Demand for white copy paper made out of endangered species habitat has been on the decline for at least 10 years now - that’s why Nippon has decided to close the white paper plant at Maryvale. 80% of Victoria’s native forest timber was going there. People and companies around the world simply do not want to buy paper made from endangered species habitat.
Instead we should be making recycled paper, which we could be doing.
Sign the petition to end native forest logging