Senate Adjournment
18 November 2024
I rise to speak about the important role Australia’s sustainable forest products play in our recycling ecosystem. This is particularly timely because last week marked National Recycling Week. In Australia, forestry is our sixth-largest manufacturing sector, contributing around $24 billion to our economy each and every single year. Forest industries directly employ around 80,000 people and indirectly employ another 100,000 throughout Australia, many of whom are based in fine regional and rural towns. These numbers will only increase, as demand for timber and wood fibre is set to quadruple by 2050. That’s right—quadruple. Jobs in the forest industry cover many professions, including the planting and regeneration of forests, the management of forests, harvesting, transportation, processing, in the construction industry and the manufacturing of those paper products that we all hold dear.
Many of the products our forestry industry creates are recyclable and contribute to a well-functioning circular economy. Let us take paper products, for example, which can be recycled numerous times. When paper reaches the end of its life cycle, it can be composted and its nutrients returned to the soil. Timber and fibre processing facilities also recycle their timber residues, like sawdust, which is used as a renewable energy source to create heat and power, reducing the reliance on external energy sources. The full supply chain of Australia’s forest industries is critical for the economy, the environment and our communities, particularly in our regions. Therefore we must support this industry so we do not rely on unsustainable forest imports that undermine Australian jobs and the global fight against climate change.
In September this year, the Albanese government took an important step in preventing transborder environmental crime with a bill passing the parliament to more effectively prevent illegally logged timber from entering the Australian market. These reforms will help trace illegally logged timber to its source and provide greater control at the border through new notice requirements and stricter penalties. The Australian Forest Products Association, the peak body that represents workers in the forest, wood and paper products industry, has backed these and strengthened the reforms. The association is also calling for improved consumer information for timber and fibre that states the country of origin and whether it comes from a sustainable Australian source.
Sadly, due to the native forestry industry closures in my home state of Victoria and in Western Australia, the industry has seen an increase in the volume of imported hardwoods. It is regrettable that, by shutting down our sustainable industry, local furniture and flooring manufacturers are now forced to source timbers from overseas forests with less stringent regulations than ours to make ends meet. I do note a lot of our fine timber now comes from the state of Tasmania, and a good friend of mine, Senator Duniam, who is also the co-chair of the forestry friendship group with me here in Parliament House, is standing up for our industry and standing up for jobs in regional Australia.
Australia’s forest products sector is the world leader in sustainable forest management, and that is something we should be very proud of. We must retain our global reputation as a responsible supplier of sustainable and legally sourced timber products. Federal Labor recognises the significance of backing sustainable forestry, and that is why we announced just one month ago that applications are now open for the third round of the $74 million Support Plantation Establishment program. The funding will help farm foresters and the industry establish up to 36,000 hectares of new, long rotation softwood and hardwood plantation forests across Australia. Rounds 1 and 2 of the program have awarded over $15 million to 27 projects across Australia that will create over 8½ thousand hectares of new plantations.
With plantations making over 1.7 million hectares of our country’s forest estate, more investment in new forestry plantations is a good thing to ensure that in the decades ahead we have enough resources to create the essential items Australians rely on such as house framing, flooring, furniture and packing. We all have an obligation to support our forest industry.
