New South Wales (and Australia’s) critical supply of power poles will be short-circuited if Chris Minns, NSW Premier, establishes an enlarged Great Koala National Park on the state’s north coast. That is according to Martin McCarthy, a member of the multi-generational Coffs Harbour Hardwood business, who spoke exclusively to Wood Central’s Jason Ross following Minns’ two-day visit to the Glenreagh plant and Coffs Harbour showroom.
“We sat with the Premier, (as well as) Minister Penny Sharpe – the powerful NSW Environment minister – and Peter Duncan – the chair of the Independent Forestry Panel – at our Blue Gum boardroom and spoke about the Koala Park,” McCarthy said, who, along with his uncles and cousins, is part of the fourth-generation business. “We then spoke about the impact of an (oversized) park on the state’s supply of hardwoods (used for bridges, utility poles, and other essential services), and you could see the cogs start to turn.”
“We took them through the electricity pole processing where they saw a pole being planed and then treated. We were cutting some of the structural timber for the heritage restoration of the Pyrmont Bridge,” McCarthy said. “We also pointed out that the massive girders used in the historic Pyrmont Bridge came from State Forests, and that given the shortage of large-section hardwood used in bridges, we had to arrange a special order with Forestry Corporation (the state’s forest manager) to access the log supply for the girders.”
McCarthy told Wood Central that the politicians visited the two sites “with eyes wide open,” gave the business “a good hearing,” and could see that there was the potential to expand and grow the industry. Maree McCaskill of Timber NSW said that the Premier and Minister Sharpe enjoyed the CHH workshop area where hardwood handles were made for tools – something that had not occurred as a product made from native forests.
“Our members like CHH make such a diverse range of valuable products that are often not recognised as part of native forestry and therefore taken for granted. The exceptional qualities of hardwood timber such as density and durability are why it has high value uses” she said.
The visit, handpicked by Minns and his handlers in conjunction with Timber NSW, comes as the Premier is poised to make a “captain’s call” on the location and size of the GKNP. In February, Wood Central exclusively revealed that the NSW government could break from the hard left and rethink a 176,000-hectare Park amid concerns over supply of building materials and the cost of living crisis.
And whilst Wood Central understands a Great Koala National Park will be established – thus delivering on Minns’ electoral commitment from the 2023 state election – the Park could be established without taking the vital production resource thus balancing conserving key koala and glider habitats and sustaining a viable hardwood industry:
“Now, the challenge is resource security to attract investment and innovation in hardwood processing,” according to Maree McCaskill, CEO of Timber NSW, who with Andrew Hurford, Chair of Timber NSW, joined representatives from the TFTU (then known as the CFMEU), the AWU and Forestry Australia’s Acting President, Dr Bill Jackson – author of the 2016 Australia State of Environment Report – in recent meetings with stakeholders from the NSW government.
Last week, Wood Central spoke to Andrew Hurford, Chair of Timber NSW, who stated that Minns “had a very big decision to make in the near future (about the Park) and wanted to see an operation for himself to get a good feel for the industry.” Whilst John Gunst, a member of the NSW committee of management for the TFTU – Australia’s first timber-focused union – said that Minns and Sharpe were “ready to back the industry.”
“We have a lot of young guys coming through that want to build a career (in timber),” Gunst said. “It’s about trying to keep people in jobs, and if they close down (due to an enlarged Koala Park), there’s going to be a lot of people out of work.” Speaking to Minns, Gunst said that Koalas and native forestry can coexist: “It doesn’t have to be a case of one or the other. You know, just 12 out of 10,000 trees in State Forests are harvested every year, and everything that is harvested is always replanted,” he said.
Koala Policy Could Knock Out 50% of NSW Power Poles!
Last year, Wood Central revealed that almost half of all NSW power poles come from coupes tied up in the Park, with the state’s largest supplier, Koppers Australia, concerned that Minns could be sleepwalking into a catastrophe, at the exact time the network needs a major service. That is according to Richard Lyons, Vice President of Koppers Australia, who said that changes to harvest areas on the North Coast would be disastrous for electricity ratepayers across the state. It comes as Wood Central reported that the NSW Government would be hit by a $25 million-a-year financial blackhole. Industry experts confirm that concrete-based poles “cost 2-3 times more than timber” and steel and fibre composite, which are even higher at “3 to 5 times more than hardwood.”
Lyons—who oversees Koppers Wood Products Australian operations —said that the business, which supplies “60-70% of the Australian electricity industry’s estimated 75,000 to 80,000 new and replacement poles per year,” is going public with its concerns: “Power poles are critical infrastructure; we are one of four suppliers that supply hardwood timber poles to the energy distribution network,” Mr Lyons said, adding that the company works hand in glove with utility companies, especially after disasters like fires, floods and cyclones, where urgent replacement poles are required to restore power quickly.”
As it stands, more than 86% of Australia’s power network relies on hardwood power poles – 9 million in total, with Mr Lyons confirming that timber poles are “preferred by utility companies because they are cost-effective, proven long term, are carbon friendly and sustainably sourced.” However, “it’s becoming increasingly challenging to source timber poles from State Forest,” putting added strain on supply chains.
“Forestry Corporation (of NSW) do an excellent job with wood supply agreements,” he noted, adding that 2/3rds of the supply comes from State Forests, certified to the Australian Standard for Sustainable Forest Management (AS 4708). “We estimate that poles make up about 6% of timber sourced from State Forest,” but that small percentage goes a long way for the utility companies to maintain existing infrastructure. “If we got nothing from Forestry NSW, it will be a disaster.”
- To learn more about Premier Minns’ visit to NSW timber mills that could be impacted by the Koala Park, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive from Friday.
