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NSW Labor’s New Policy Binds Minns to $2.9B Timber Industry

UPDATE: Wood Central can reveal the new Labor policy will become binding for the NSW government and provide respite for the besieged hardwood industry.


Thu 01 Aug 24

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The NSW Labor Party has carried a crucial motion, vowing to extend the size of the plantation estate, increase the volumes of timber needed for residential housing—including a focus on modular housing and engineered wood products—and crucially, provide unequivocal support for the future of native forestry and sustainable forest management.

It comes after Wood Central revealed on Sunday that the LEAN network, organised through 150 Labor branches across NSW, supported a motion (Motion 85) that could have led to the closure of native forestry and immediate transition to plantations.

At the same time, the CFMEU Manufacturing division, with the support of Unions NSW, successfully secured the motion as part of the NSW Labor Annual State Conference, occurring on 27-28 July 2024.

According to Maree McCaskill, CEO of Timber NSW, the new motion provides the state hardwood industry—now starved of wood supply—with much-needed oxygen: “As I understand, the ALP NSW policy becomes binding on the members and the parliamentary wing,” supporting an EY report which last year claimed that the industry generated $2.9b in economic activity and supported 9,000 jobs.

Crucially, Ms McCaskill said, the new motion mentions “management” of forest resources six times, a crucial consideration ahead of the industry’s ongoing consultation with the NSW government over the Great Koala National Park.

“It’s also worth pointing out that as per the FAO’s State of the World’s Forests Report published last week, Australia is now among the world’s top countries for reforestation, with the country adding 4.4 million hectares of forests over the decade to 2020,” Ms McCaskill said.

Native forestry has become a hot-button political issue Australia-wide, with the Australian Labor Party’s left-wing pushing for the party to address vote leakage to the Greens. Following the election of the Chris Minns government in NSW last year, the ALP now holds the federal government and the Queensland, Victoria, WA, South Australia, ACT, and NT governments.

NSW Labor’s new policy on forestry

NSW Labor recognises the value and role of our forests in storing carbon, protecting biodiversity and supporting regional communities. NSW Labor is strongly committed to contributing to the delivery of Australia’s commitments under the COP26 Glasgow Leaders Declaration on forests and land, which includes halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030 in recognition that deforestation increases greenhouse gas emissions.

NSW Labor also supports other priorities of the Forest & Climate Leaders’ Partnership, such as greening construction with sustainable wood, and supports a sustainable future for NSW’s forests and forest products industry to help achieve this objective.

Labor will update the NSW Forest Industry Roadmap to ensure it is contemporary and for purpose.

NSW Labor will:

  • Recognise the skills, knowledge and competencies of timber workers and their communities, as well as the central role First Nations communities play in restoring country and determining social, economic and environmental benefits flowing from forest management activity.
  • Expand NSWs plantation estate and processing and value adding capabilities to better satisfy increasing domestic and international demand for high-value, sustainably sourced and produced wood products, and develop an industry plan that facilitates regional job growth and vibrant sustainable communities.
  • Expand the objectives and benefits of public ownership and support, ensuring public investment delivers an equity stake or continued dividends for the people of NSW.
  • Support methods and systems for new management regimes for NSW forests that incentivise protection, conservation, restoration and/or sustainable use of NSW forests. This must prioritise the ongoing need for management, the effective use of by-products and restorative management where required along with the promotion of good and decent work.
  • Deliver the management and restoration of native forests, recognising and rewarding carbon and biodiversity values and the need for their active and ongoing management.
  • Harness the social, environmental, and economic benefits that our forests can provide.
  • Support increased supply of timber for residential housing construction, including support for new methods of engineered timber, modular housing and other methods to more economically utilize timber resources.

Please Note: Wood Central does not take an editorial stance on the native forestry debate. From time to time it will post content in the public’s interest which will be fact checked before posting.

Author

  • Jason Ross

    Jason Ross, publisher, is a 15-year professional in building and construction, connecting with more than 400 specifiers. A Gottstein Fellowship recipient, he is passionate about growing the market for wood-based information. Jason is Wood Central's in-house emcee and is available for corporate host and MC services.

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