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New home building approvals in the 2024/25 financial year were up by 13.9% compared with their 2023/24 trough, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics released for June 2025 covering all states and territories. Source: Timberbiz Detached house approvals increased by 6.1% in the financial year, while multi-unit approvals were up by 27.9%. HIA Senior Economist Tom Devitt said strong population growth, tight labour markets and recovering household incomes helped improve confidence in an increasing number of markets over the past 18 months, led by Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia. “Interest rate cuts from the Reserve Bank in February and May this year, with the expectation of more to come, will help bring more potential homebuyers back to the market in the lagging – and often more expensive – states and territories,” he said. “The challenge will be turning this modest improvement in conditions into the kind of recovery that will meet the Australian Government target of 1.2 million homes over five years. “In the 2024/25 financial year, the first year of the government’s five-year target, Australia approved just 187,330 new homes. Given that some approved projects don’t ever commence construction, the goal of commencing 240,000 homes per year remains a distant goal.” Mr Devitt said that even with lower interest rates, Australia was set to start just 200,000 homes per year, on average, over the next four years. “Multi-unit activity, in particular, needs to do more heavy lifting. Multi-unit commencements need to double from current levels in order to achieve the government’s housing targets,” he said. “This is unlikely to occur under current policies. Labour and land shortages, obstructionist regulations and punitive surcharges on institutional investors have pushed improving sentiment away from apartments back into the detached housing sector. “Sustained improvement in multi-units’ activity will need to come from a reduction in policy burdens on the sector, or a re-acceleration of home prices until new projects are viable against higher policy costs, the latter not boding well for affordability,” concluded Mr Devitt. Total new dwelling approvals in the 2024/25 financial year, in seasonally adjusted terms, increased in Western Australia by 32.3% and South Australia by 28.7%, followed by New South Wales (+16.0%), Queensland (+13.1%) and Victoria (+9.1%). Tasmania declined by 9.9%. In original terms, the Northern Territory increased by 22.5% while the Australian Capital Territory declined by 39.9%.

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This week’s announcement by New Zealand’s Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden on reviewing the risks associated with Worker Exposure Standards for wood dust and machine guarding has been welcomed by the Wood Products and Manufacturing Association. Source: Timberbiz The proposed changes aim to ensure standards reflect real-world risks and align with international benchmarks. The NZ Government says manufacturers have said that the current rules are unclear and difficult to apply, leading to unnecessary costs and compliance burden. Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said the proposed changes aim to ensure standards reflect real-world risks and align with international benchmarks. Manufacturers have said that the current rules are unclear and difficult to apply, leading to unnecessary costs and compliance burden. She said that as an example of the law’s confusion, a business owner told her they got conflicting advice from WorkSafe inspectors on identical machinery guarding in Auckland and Christchurch, deeming the same machine guarding to be compliant in one city but non-compliant in another city. Wood processors and manufacturers also gave feedback that they felt constrained by Workplace Exposure Standards that don’t reflect operational realities or international benchmarks. “Many described the current approach as overly rigid and unclear, with one participant saying the standards are ‘an overreaction to risk which will cripple the industry’.” The Workplace Exposure Standards for soft wood dust, hard wood dust, and welding fumes will be reviewed, with an aim to improve clarity and better align with international standards. “Businesses expressed frustration that the wood dust standard is impractical and not based on realistic risk assessments. They want a system that is both protective and practical, and these changes aim to provide that,” Ms van Velden said. WPMA Chief Executive Mark Ross said the current approach to workplace safety regulations in these areas had been described by WPMA members as inconsistent and therefore unclear. “Some businesses have invested tens of thousands of dollars in equipment and controls but still struggle to comply with standards that don’t align with international benchmarks or practical realities,” he said. “Wood processing businesses have expressed frustration that the softwood dust standard is impractical and not based on realistic risk assessments. They are wanting a system that is both protective and practical, and the changes announced by the Minister aim to provide that,” Mr Ross said. “When our wood processing businesses can focus on managing genuine risks rather than navigating complex and sometimes contradictory regulations, they can operate more efficiently, continue to keep their people safe, and contribute more effectively to our regional economy.” The Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association will be actively engaging with the consultation process and encourages members to participate and share their experiences. As the Minister states, simplifying machine guarding rules and reviewing the Workplace Exposure Standards will make it easier for people to do the right thing, without compromising safety. See: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/regulatory-relief-manufacturing-sector

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The author considers that current fire management approaches across SE Australia landscapes are failing and, in many cases, have failed. Source: John O’Donnell The current state and federal fire interval approaches focus on individual species, a large number of listed threatened flora and fauna species and communities, reduced fire return frequencies and inadequate assessment of the consequences of not burning. As an example, across NSW, prescribed burning of forested areas has an average of 0.6 % of forests per year over the last seven years. Prescribed burning in most states is at low levels, except for WA.  The graphs in the link article below highlight the value of prescribed burning in reducing bushfire extent across Australian states, the data is over 60 years. The adopted fire regimes and approaches result in widespread high intensity bushfires in these same areas where low intensity fires are restricted, and often result in major bushfire impacts, social and safety impacts, environmental impacts and economic impacts. It is essential that all the impacts and costs of failed and failing fire regimes in SE Australia and associated intense bushfires are assessed to adequately understand the scale of bushfire impacts, social and safety impacts, environmental impacts and economic impacts. This assessment has assessed the impacts of large and intense bushfires across SE Australia. Bushfire disaster impacts across SE Australia are outlined in Sections 2.1 to 2.5. Social and safety bushfire impacts across SE Australia are outlined in Sections 3.1 to 3.7. Environmental bushfire impacts across SE Australia are outlined in Sections 4.1 to 4.15. Economic bushfire impacts across SE Australia are outlined in Sections 5.1 to 5.5. The impacts are across 32 different impact areas, and intense and severe impacts for the majority of them. The scale of the combined impacts is very large.  It’s time for effective action to reduce intense bushfires across SE Australia. It is important that governments at all levels commence adequately addressing these impacts and utilise fire mitigation much better in scale, distribution and funding. Read the full paper here.

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Victoria’s farmers and landowners are being encouraged to take advantage of a new program to plant more trees on their farms – helping to boost timber supply, increase biodiversity and prevent soil erosion. Source: Timberbiz The new program is offering grants of up to $80,000 for landholders to plant trees on their property – providing long term solutions including boosting shade and shelter for livestock, improving stock and crop production, offsetting carbon emissions or generating income through carbon credits. Landholders will also be able to generate additional income through timber production, including from harvested wood products or use the timber for on-farm uses such as firewood and fence posts. Agriculture Minister Ros Spence yesterday launched the Victorian Trees on Farms Program at Parliament House alongside industry members at the Victorian Forest Products Association’s Timber Plantations showcase. An additional grants program – the Trees on Farms Incubator Program – is offering planting service providers and forestry professionals up to $50,000 to support landowners who might be contemplating planting trees on their property. This service will help landowners develop tailored, implementation-ready project plans to align with their property and planting goals, while providing education, training and upskilling for tree planting and management activities. “Victoria’s tree plantations are an essential resource – not only for our state’s biodiversity, but to support our housing pipeline, create regional jobs, and produce paper and packaging products to replace single use plastics,” Ms Spence said. “We’re supporting Victorian farmers and landholders to reap the benefits of planting trees on their farms, including improving grazing outcomes and offsetting carbon emissions.” For more information on the programs, visit www.agriculture.vic.gov.au/trees-on-farms

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As someone who has spent many years working in Australia’s forest industries, including working in a sawmill, processing firewood and representing timber towns, I’m witnessing an entirely preventable crisis unfold across rural Victoria, particularly here in East Gippsland. The Allan Labor Government’s response to our current firewood shortage is fundamentally dishonest. When Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos claims “firewood is a limited resource with unpredictable availability,” these weasel words are either breathtakingly ignorant or deliberately deceptive. Perhaps the Minister and Member for Oakleigh has such poor understanding of Victoria’s public land estate because the only decent-sized area of greenery in his electorate is a golf course. A little in the way of facts – Australia is the seventh most forested country on the planet. East Gippsland has approximately 74% native forest coverage – we’re surrounded by more timber than most places on Earth. Yet families struggle to heat their homes while contractors truck firewood from interstate. This isn’t a natural shortage, it’s government-manufactured crisis. The problem is straightforward: ideological forest policies driven by the desire for inner city greens preferences deny Gippslanders’ access to abundant resources. The government wound up the timber industry, removed firewood coupes from licensed contractors, and refuses to extend public collection periods despite having clear authority to do so. These policies are now driving illegal and dangerous firewood removal from public land, particularly threatening the small remnants of Red Gum forests that remain from pre-settlement times and that are synonymous with East Gippsland. When legal, sustainable access is denied within common forest types, drastically inflating the price of firewood, people turn to illegal harvesting within these precious ecosystems. Victorian State Government agencies including Victoria Police, the Conservation Regulator, Parks Victoria and Forest Fire Management Victoria have made headlines recently as they prosecute those for illegally harvesting firewood within parks and reserves from all over the state with state Chief conservation regulator Kate Gavens disturbed by the illegal harvesting that is commonplace “We are seeing quite significant amounts of illegal take of firewood, and cutting down trees in State Forest and in National Parks across the state” she reported. Meanwhile, our forests carry dangerous fuel loads and debris that should be harvested for community firewood needs. Instead, it creates fire hazards while families can’t afford heating. Properly regulated native timber harvesting reduces fire risk, maintains forest health, and provides affordable heating. The government acknowledges supply shortages create stress but refuses obvious solutions. The first step is extending firewood collection periods beyond the current restrictive windows of just a few months annually. The government possesses the power to implement these extensions immediately but chooses bureaucratic inaction over community welfare. Year-round access, with appropriate seasonal restrictions during extreme fire danger periods, would provide families with reliable supply while enabling sustainable harvesting rotation across different forest areas. This approach allows forests to recover between harvesting cycles while ensuring continuous community access to essential heating fuel. Secondly, opening additional collection areas would unlock vast tracts of public forest land currently closed to firewood collection despite containing abundant dead timber, storm debris, and material from planned burns. These areas could safely accommodate public access with minimal environmental impact, particularly zones already disturbed by natural events or management activities. Strategic opening of additional zones would distribute harvesting pressure, prevent over-use of current sites, and provide closer access for regional communities currently forced to travel vast distances to reach designated collection points. Finally, returning firewood coupes to licensed contractors would establish a local source of firewood for those that cannot obtain the resource themselves. Commercial contractors with proper licenses understand sustainable harvesting practices, forest regeneration cycles, and environmental compliance requirements developed through years of training and experience. In one of the most forested regions of the seventh most forested country on Earth, families are going cold because city politicians choose ideology over practicality. They’d rather families truck in expensive interstate firewood during a cost-of-living crisis, than allow sustainable low-cost local harvesting. Using sustainably managed native timber is akin to low-impact farming for firewood (amongst the many other products it can be turned into). Local timber harvesting this can be done in a way that keeps our bush healthy. Proper management supports wildlife, helps forests thrive, and makes use of a renewable resource instead of relying on energy-guzzling alternatives. It’s a smart way to manage a part of Victoria’s public land estate. This is another example of the vast disconnect between metropolitan policy makers and rural realities. Those living in Gippsland understand that sustainable harvesting is essential for both forest health and community resilience. The current Government must stop making excuses and start listening to rural communities. Mick Harrington is a third-generation firewood contractor, former executive officer of Forest and Wood Communities Australia and a proud Gippslander.

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