The NSW Government is misusing the national emissions reduction scheme to bankroll the proposed 176,000-hectare Great Koala National Park, according to Mick Stephens, CEO of Timber Queensland. Stephens slammed the Minns government for pushing a native forest carbon model that is “a blatant misuse” and “defies credibility,” contravening the standards set by the federal scheme.
Stephens—who represents Queensland’s $4 billion timber supply chain—said the proposal “fails the additionality test,” pointing out that state governments have routinely converted public forest into national parks for decades without claiming carbon credits. He added that it also “fails on the scale test, where the Queensland Government has written to the Australian Government making it clear they do not support this method and recognise the multiple benefits, including timber production, recreation and ecosystem services from existing state forests as part of their new timber plan.”
On scientific grounds, Stephens warned the NSW approach “fails to address the science on superior long-term abatement from well-managed forests with sustainable timber harvest and substitution of emission-intensive materials with wood products. In other words, the NSW method is likely to lead to lower overall abatement compared to the baseline of continuing state forest management.” He went on to say, “There are a myriad of other flawed design and measurement issues contained in the method, generating significant bias and uncertainty over the perceived carbon benefits, which should have triggered multiple red flags through the method prioritisation process.”
According to Stephens, the Minns Government’s decision amounts to political opportunism, with its “captain’s call” to tap one-off carbon credits for a single park proposal constituting “market distortion at the expense of other genuine abatement” and “deliberate gaming of the scheme and a misuse of significant public funds.” He argued the move represents an “over-reach” by the Labor left to restructure native forestry for Greens preferences, culminating in “an ideological decision to create an unnecessary park to protect koala populations.”
Stephens also cited “decades of scientific research from the NSW Department of Primary Industries, as well as recent work conducted as part of the park assessment,” which he said shows “no difference between koala numbers in state forests and national parks. In fact, there are clear examples of declines in koala numbers following conversion to parks as in the case of the Pilliga Forest.” He warned that “the key threats to koalas are disease, land clearing, wild dogs and road accidents,” concerns he says are being ignored under the current proposal.
“There will be devastating impacts on native hardwood businesses and regional jobs,” Stephens said, questioning “the sincerity of the Labor left with support packages” when “there is no credible public policy need to cease sustainable timber production in these forests.” He urged that, instead of park-driven credits, the scheme should reward “forest thinning and sustainable timber harvesting as a tool to improve tree growth and productivity, forest health and long-term carbon outcomes in many public and private native forests. This is particularly the case in Queensland with many overstocked private forests that can benefit from improved active management.”
In its submission to the NSW Government consultation, Timber Queensland has formally called for a joint state–federal inquiry into the method’s development, insisting “the NSW method has no place in the scheme and should be withdrawn.” Stephens concluded by urging both governments to back carbon frameworks that incentivise active forest management and sustainable timber harvesting over ideologically driven park projects.
Timber Queensland’s concerns follow Wood Central’s revelation on Monday that the park is now in “no man’s land,” with its future funding contingent upon the Albanese Government adopting the Improved Native Forest Management Method for carbon credits. Maree McCaskill, CEO of Timber NSW, noted “the park is still a state forest managed by Forestry Corporation” under a harvesting moratorium until it is gazetted in mid-2026, and that royalties from native forestry currently fund critical trail maintenance for fire and flood management.
To date, more than $140 million has been allocated to establish the park. Steve Dobbyns, executive officer of Forest & Wood Communities Australia, told Wood Central it will cost millions more to manage as a national park. “The annual cost to taxpayers to manage the 2 million hectares of state forests is around $20 million, which works out to be $10 per hectare,” Dobbyns said. “The last time you could check the NPWS Annual Report (about 2019), before it was hidden behind the veil of the Department of Planning and Environment, the NSW Government was paying around $850 million to manage its national parks, which equates to $121 per hectare.”
On Sunday, Wood Central revealed that vast tracts of working forest on NSW’s North Coast will be permanently closed under a supersized Great Koala National Park, after Premier Chris Minns confirmed the creation of a 176,000-hectare reserve, which, combined with existing national parks, will form a 476,000-hectare conservation area — the largest in the world dedicated to koala protection. “Koalas are at risk of extinction in the wild in NSW – that’s unthinkable,” Minns told the media. “The Great Koala National Park is about turning that around. We’ve listened carefully and we’re making sure workers, businesses and communities are supported every step of the way.”
