The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) has called for the Support Plantation Establishment Program (SPEP) to be extended, following Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins’s confirmation of its final $73 million round on Tuesday. The closing tranche takes the four-year scheme to almost 40,000 hectares of new softwood and hardwood plantation across Australia.
The Albanese Government has also announced a new $300 million Forestry Growth Fund alongside the SPEP closure, bringing total federal forestry investment to $600 million across the two packages.
AFPA acting Chief Executive Officer Richard Hyett welcomed the 16 closing grants and the $26 million SPEP allocation confirmed in last week’s Federal Budget. He used the announcement to press the Federal Government to make the programme permanent rather than wind it up.
“This program has been critical in reversing the decline in plantation investment,” Hyett said.
Hyett cited a 230,000-hectare contraction that stripped Australia’s plantation estate across the six years before SPEP launched in 2023. The 40,000 hectares recovered under the scheme is roughly a sixth of that earlier loss — a figure AFPA argues makes the case for ongoing funding.
“These latest grants will increase our sustainable timber supply,” Collins said.
Collins paired the final-round grant list with the new $300 million Growth Fund, describing the two announcements as a single package backing domestic timber supply, regional jobs and housing construction.
The Minister said the latest grants would support industry, business and jobs in rural Australia, contributing to the Federal Government’s Future Made in Australia agenda through increased domestic timber supply for manufacturing and value-adding.
Wood Central understands the Forestry Growth Fund will direct spending towards advanced processing equipment, forestry workforce training, engineered wood products innovation and housing supply chain support.
AFPA has described the SPEP as a highly effective industry-government partnership, with the scheme supporting regional economies, local jobs, future fibre security and the Federal Government’s climate and sovereign capability targets across its four-year run. Hyett said AFPA had formally encouraged the Federal Government to extend the SPEP into ongoing funding so plantation establishment and expansion could continue across the country.
