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High energy costs in NZ have already cost the industry
High electricity costs and the insecurity of future gas availability are key drivers for the Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association of NZ (WPMA) to provide support for the Protecting industry, jobs and household budgets as the gas runs out research report released by the Green Building Council. Source: Timberbiz While various options to solve future energy shortfalls have been mooted, this report goes a step further and outlines a well-defined case based on the acceleration of heat pumps in our homes to free up gas and electricity for industry growth. “The uncertainty created by energy demands is a serious threat to manufacturing growth within New Zealand and we need to ensure there is positive action, especially from Government,” said Mark Ross, WPMA Chief Executive. “The closure of three wood manufacturing mills in 2024 due to escalating electricity and gas prices has scarred local communities and the economy leaving our industry energy exposed.” Although not outright future energy solutions on their own, the recommendations within the Green Building Councils’ report, such as requiring new buildings to be ‘all-electric’ and expanding the Warmer Kiwi Homes to include a wider range of insulation products and retrofit for the least energy efficient low-income homes, are well argued and require further consideration by Government. “Enabling secure and affordable energy for our industry will assist in encouraging further investment in pulp, paperboard and value-added wood processing production within New Zealand,” said Mr Ross. “It is pleasing to see the Green Building Council rise to the Prime Ministers challenge of finding new energy solutions, potentially freeing up additional electricity and gas for our industry.” New Zealand’s energy prices for manufacturers are significantly higher than in countries where our major competitors reside. The opportunities to fix the energy problem are out there, with WPMA promoting this report and a long-term dual-party energy strategy to keep our businesses open, protect jobs, and build a more secure and affordable future. The full report can be found at https://wpma.org.nz/assets/Reports/NZGBC-Protecting-Our-Gas-Supply-Report-Single-Pages.pdf
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Renewable timber framing campaign for builders
Responsible Wood has renewed its support for WoodSolutions’ Renewable Timber Framing Campaign for the year ahead. The campaign provides builders and construction businesses with free promotional resources to bridge the gap between industry knowledge and client understanding. Source: Timberbiz By highlighting the sustainability, wellness, sturdiness and durability benefits of timber, the campaign helps architects, builders and other timber users empower clients with a powerful ‘why’ for selecting timber framing for their home or project. “We’re proud to support WoodSolutions’ Renewable Timber Framing Campaign, particularly given its capacity to communicate the benefits of timber from responsibly managed forests,” said Responsible Wood CEO, Simon Dorries. “By promoting the use of certified timber framing, the campaign encourages sustainable choices that benefit both the environment and the quality of construction. “This aligns with our goal to grow awareness around sustainably certified timber, from Sustainable Forest Management through to Chain of Custody Certification that gives industry and end users the confidence they’re making a responsible choice with their material selection,” he said. The Timber Framing Campaign offers a wide range of free resources—from client brochures and social media assets to videos and case studies—all designed to help construction professionals confidently promote timber as a superior framing material. With growing awareness of timber’s environmental benefits and proven performance, the campaign strengthens the connection between sustainable forest products and modern building needs. To learn more about the campaign, and access the suite of free materials, here: https://www.woodsolutions.com.au/timber-framing.
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Largest rollout of fire detection cameras in Australia
Forestry Corporation is deploying early fire detection cameras across NSW State forests in the largest rollout of this groundbreaking technology in Australia. The network will be installed across the state’s major softwood growing regions, covering 1.2 million hectares of land from Northern NSW to the NSW-Victoria border with cameras installed at 22 strategic locations. Source: Timberbiz Key regions monitored by the cameras include Tumut, Moss Vale, Bombala, Walcha, and Bathurst, including three wind farm development zones near Bathurst and Tumut. The cameras will not only help protect critical plantation assets but also neighbouring communities, national parks and privately-owned agricultural land. The cameras will be provided by technology provider Pano AI. Powered by artificial intelligence, these cameras scan the landscape, track changes in pixel colour detecting smoke columns, delivering real-time alerts to fire crews and allowing rapid fire response. Land Management & Innovation Manager Jamie Carter said the cameras will enhance Forestry Corporation’s existing fire tower network, which is the largest in the country, by providing additional coverage and extending fire detection during overnight hours and in low-visibility conditions. “This is a significant milestone after four years of trialing and refining our approach to early fire detection,” Mr Carter said. “Following the significant impact of the 2019–2020 Black Summer fires where 25% of the pine plantation estate was burnt, Forestry Corporation has focused on aligning technological advancement with the needs of the NSW softwood estate. “This solution provides a critical edge in the crucial first 30 minutes after ignition, which is hugely important from a firefighting perspective,” he said. Fire detection technology has been extensively trialled in the US, South Africa and Europe and here in Australia trained to local conditions. Pano AI’s Head of Australia GTM Andrew Prolov said the partnership with Forestry Corporation was a clear signal that the technology is now mature and accepted by industry and emergency services, playing a key role in protecting lives and livelihoods. “Pano’s solution is trained on billions of images from diverse landscapes, micro-climates, and seasons across Australia and internationally,” Mr Prolov said. “By combining AI detection with advanced geospatial insights, it helps Forestry Corporation understand the full context of each fire detected,” he said. Research shows that 80–85% of the area monitored by Forestry Corporation’s fire towers also includes surrounding private property and public lands providing a significant and wide-reaching community benefit. In regions like Bathurst, tower operators detect and report more than half of all fires, often placing the first call to emergency services across these land tenures. “This technology won’t replace our highly skilled fire tower operators, but it’s a powerful addition to our early detection suite. We’re proud to lead the way in this field,” Mr Carter said. The rollout directly responds to key recommendations from the Independent NSW Bushfire Inquiry that followed the 2019 /2020 Black Summer fires, calling for enhanced remote fire detection capabilities. Over the last two decades, approximately 70,000 hectares of softwood forests in NSW have been impacted by fire. With State forests producing enough timber each year to build 40,000 new homes, strengthening early fire detection is critical to safeguarding the state’s timber supply. For more information visit www.forestrycorporation.com.au
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AFPA calls for better use of forests nationally
The Australian Forest Products Association is renewing calls for governments nationally to maintain more multiple-use public forests, better recognise their community amenity benefits and their critical provision for sustainably sourced timber and wood-fibre resources to build the nation. Source: Timberbiz “The NSW Parliament has been inquiring into access restrictions to public lands and waterways. This is a timely opportunity to remind policy and decision makers of the benefits multiple-use public forests provide for the community, through recreation and other uses and through sustainable forestry,” Deputy Chief Executive Officer of AFPA, Richard Hyett said. “It’s also an opportunity to call out the worrying trend of more forest lockups and conversion to national parks.” NSW [1] has a very large conservation reserve network including a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve network encompassing more than 7.5 million hectares of national parks and reserves. In NSW alone over the past 30 years, more than 1.2 million hectares of state forests have been converted to national parks, meaning nearly 10% of NSW’s total area has become national park. At the same time, Australia’s total forest area grew by 2.8 million hectares from 2008 to 2021, while total multiple-use public native forest area, has more than halved since the mid-1990s, equating now to about three per cent of Australia’s total forest area. “This is miniscule compared with the European Union where 84% of the Native (Natural) forest is available for sustainable wood production and it needs to be considered in that context,” Mr Hyett said. “Despite this, activists continue to demand that well managed multiple-use public native forests be locked up instead of demanding that under resourced National Parks be better managed to deliver the appropriate protections for biodiversity and threatened species for which they were created.” Multiple-use public forests provide an enormous array of benefits, including: Sustainable timber and wood-fibre resources Recreational and educational opportunities for bush users An active management style that encourages carbon sequestration Flexibility to manage for fire, disease and other risks Often, better biodiversity and habitat outcomes “In many cases, the revenue generated from activities in these forests, helps contribute to their conservation and ongoing management. We should also remember and acknowledge that many of Australia’s private forestry estates are made available for recreational activities, broadening the benefits these forests provide to the community,” Mr Hyett said. Furthermore, the recently released Federal Government’s Timber Fibre Strategy points to the growing gap between domestic sawn timber demand, for activities like housing construction, and domestic supply capacity – already exacerbated by reduced access to sustainable native forest timber. “Sadly, multiple-use public forests have become a soft target for governments to satisfy misguided activists who irresponsibly demand that forests sit under lock and key,” Mr Hyett said. “It’s time for governments to better recognise the value of forests that are open for use, including sustainable forestry, and give them better consideration, rather than the lazy approach of lockups and conversion to national parks.” [1] https://www.forestrycorporation.com.au/about/our-strategy
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Paperless trade with China and Thailand
Trade with China and Thailand will become easier following an agreement with the Federal Government to transition to paperless certification on agricultural goods. Source: Timberbiz The move will allow for faster processing at the border, while creating greater information security. China and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding during the Prime Minister Mr Albanese’s recent visit to China, which will see paper sanitary and phytosanitary certificates replaced with paperless eCertificate exchange. In 2023-24, exports of agriculture, fisheries and forestry products to China were valued at over $17 billion dollars, with this modernisation to simplify and help grow exports with our largest trading partner. This reflects the benefit of the Federal Government removing trade impediments with China, including lobster, wine, barley, coal, cotton, timber logs, oaten hay, copper ores and concentrates and red meat exports. The agreement with Thailand will initially extend to plant imports to both countries, with the new e-certification system to support future implementation of Australia and Thailand’s commitments to paperless trade, as part of broader trade cooperation. This includes under the Thailand Australia Free Trade Agreement, which has seen two-way trade more than double during its 20 years in force. The streamlined certification process will support Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry exports to Thailand, worth $1.5 billion in 2023-24, to grow. These two new paperless certification agreements are part of the Federal Government’s ongoing work to strengthen agricultural productivity, improve two-way trade, and to unlock more export opportunities for Australia’s farmers and producers.
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Queensland to prosper with a blueprint delivered at Ekka
Timber Queensland has backed the release of the Prosper 2050 blueprint at the Ekka in Brisbane this week. “What we like about the blueprint is that growing the primary industries sector for both food and fibre also creates direct downstream benefits for the built environment,” Timber Queensland CEO Mick Stephens said. Source: Timberbiz “This is not only about producing the best clean, green food across the state, but also the best timber as a renewable and green building material for housing and infrastructure projects,” Mr Stephens said. Launching the blueprint at the Ekka, set to become the site of the Athletes’ Village and a major precinct upgrade for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, reinforced the case for Queensland timber as a cornerstone of iconic, sustainable infrastructure that delivers value well beyond 2032. “The launch of Prosper 2050 and the draft Queensland Future Timber Plan by the Primary Industries Minister during Ekka week is laying the groundwork for the timber industry to work collaboratively with the Government on long-term solutions to meet growing building demand,” Mr Stephens said. “The announcement on the transformation of the Brisbane showgrounds and development of the Athletes Village at the Bowen Hills site as part of the 2032 Olympics represents a significant opportunity for such collaboration. “Queensland has a long and rich heritage of using durable and sustainable local timber for its housing and public building needs. Incorporating this heritage into new iconic projects such as the Athletes Village and sporting venues can showcase both modern innovation with timber building systems and their biophilic health benefits for athletes and future occupants alike. “At the Paris Olympics for example, the Athletes Village and Aquatics Centre were both built using mass timber systems as part of a dedicated program for sustainability.” Mr Stephens said that procurement policies that preference sustainable construction materials such as timber could play an important role in delivering future infrastructure solutions in terms of sustainability, on-site workplace safety and total project cost-savings through prefabrication systems. “These opportunities will be fully explored as part of the proactive agenda with the Government for the forestry and timber construction industry,” he said. Industry trends and opportunities from farm forestry incorporating timber and beef production through to housing demand and modern methods of timber construction will be a focus of the Doing Timber Business in Queensland Conference to be held in Brisbane September 2-3, 2025. Watch the video here.
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Opinion: Nick Steel – No more political point-scoring Tasmania needs action
The adversarial politics of the past can no longer exist. We need both sides to learn to reach across the aisle and look for the values they share, not the ones they disagree, writes Nick Steel. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Tasmania has once again elected a hung parliament. After the July election, with neither of the major parties reaching the 18 seats needed for a majority, who will lead the state, and how long this parliament will last is anyone’s guess. But that’s why this is a moment for genuine collaboration. In this parliament, governing will not be a solo sport. To make it work will require teamwork, negotiation, and a willingness to set aside political ego in favour of long-term outcomes. Both major parties need to step up, work with each other and the crossbench, and find the common ground that can drive our state forward. One place to start is with traditional industries – the backbone of regional Tasmania. Forestry, aquaculture, mining, energy and farming have long supported thousands of jobs and underpinned local economies. They are not relics of the past. When managed sustainably, these industries can generate the economic activity Tasmania desperately needs. The state’s finances are under strain. Net debt has tripled in three years and could reach $13 billion by 2027-28. In this environment, the choice is clear. We either build the industries that can carry their own weight and create jobs, or we resign ourselves to shrinking opportunity. Forestry can be both economically valuable and environmentally responsible. Collaboration could make it happen. The Liberals value economic growth. Labor recognises the importance of jobs in traditional sectors. Both parties have come out and supported traditional industries in this recent election. Together, they could agree on a sustainable forestry framework that protects jobs, supports regional communities, and encourages innovation in processing and value-adding. The alternative is political gridlock. The risk of policy inflexibility from both sides could stall decision-making and lead to yet another election. Tasmanians are tired of that cycle. We want stability, real action, and policies that deliver for all Tasmanians. The way forward is clear. The Liberals and Labor must put pragmatism ahead of posturing, work together, and build consensus on industries that matter. Supporting forestry and other traditional sectors is not just good politics, it is essential for Tasmania’s future. In this hung parliament, collaboration is not a luxury. It is the only way to get things done. Nick Steel is the Chief Executive Officer of the Tasmanian Forest Products Association.
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