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Scion believes gene technology is key to delivering significant benefits for New Zealand, and we support proposed regulatory changes to better enable its development. Source: Timberbiz In its submission on the government’s Gene Technology Bill, the Crown Research Institute says the changes will help New Zealand remain competitive on a global scale. “Other countries are already adopting gene technologies to generate economic benefits and protect human and environmental health while developing cleaner and more sustainable processes,” Dr Alec Foster, Scion’s acting General Manager – Forests to Biobased Products said. “To remain competitive, New Zealand needs a regulatory framework that enables collaborative advanced technology development while honouring our unique cultural heritage and environmental stewardship responsibilities.” The Bill’s purpose is to enable the safe use of gene technologies and regulated organisms by managing the risks they pose to people and the environment. Dr Foster says it will facilitate a collaborative, co-ordinated science approach that will give New Zealand a pathway towards economic prosperity, social advancement and environmental innovation. “These proposed regulations lay the foundations for New Zealand’s future bioeconomy – where advances in food and fibre production and sustainable technology drive economic growth and tackle global challenges.” Consultation on the Bill is open until 17 February and Scion encourages people to share their views as part of this process. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recently announced plans to ease restrictions on gene technologies by the end of 2025 to enable research and product development. This change will boost New Zealand’s productivity and innovation across healthcare, climate solutions and export markets. “New Zealand has historically relied on imported gene technology products, while our regulations have constrained domestic research and innovation,” Dr Foster said. “Now, as technologies advance and global regulations evolve, New Zealand is modernising its regulatory framework to capitalise on these opportunities.” As New Zealand’s leading institute for industrial biotechnology and forestry, Scion is pioneering multiple gene technology projects. This research delivers sustainable solutions across biofuels, bioplastics, high-value chemicals and nutraceuticals, using waste biomass and greenhouse gases as feedstocks. “We’re advancing research on enhanced carbon sequestration in trees and conducting world-first field trials of gene-edited conifers designed to improve forest productivity and enable future biorefinery applications,” Dr Foster said. These and other initiatives help showcase the direct benefits of gene technology in addressing complex environmental and economic challenges, particularly across the forestry and industrial sectors.

Berninneit, the Cowes, Victoria cultural centre, whose internal design is dominated by Gippsland native hardwood timber, has won yet another award – the Public Building category in the 2024 Sustainability Awards. Source: Gippsland Times, Philip Hopkins The building defeated entries from the City of Sydney, upgrades to Redfern station, the Northcote Aquatics and Recreation Centre and an animal rehoming centre in Blacktown. The Sustainability Awards is described as Australia’s longest running and most prestigious award program dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating excellence in sustainable design and architecture. ‘Berninniet’ – ‘Gathering Together’ in the Boon Wurrung indigenous language encompasses a 260-seat performing arts theatre, a cinema, gallery, library, historical museum, events spaces and community meeting rooms. Sitting at the heart of it is glue-laminated timber (MASSLAM) huge beams 5.9 metres long and columns 4.2 metres high, all 42cm wide from Australian Sustainable Hardwoods at Heyfield. There were more than 250 entries submitted to the 2024 awards from all across Australia. This was the fifth award for the building. Others were: The 2024 National Architecture Award for Public Architecture. The William Wardell Award for Public Architecture Awards at the 2024 Victorian Architecture Awards and was shortlisted in three other categories: Regional Architecture, Sustainable Architecture and Interior Architecture. Bass Coast Shire Council and the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation received an Excellence in Geographic Place Naming award at the 2024 Victorian Geospatial Excellence awards; and The Australian Interior Design Award for Public Design. MASSLAM 45 is the proprietary strength of ASH’s uniquely strong hardwood glulam. “Vic Ash glulam timber is the essential structural element for the building,” Thom McCarthy, an interior designer with Jackson Clements Burrows, the project architects and designers, told the Gippsland Times last year. “They formed the Grand Hall, the spine of the building connected to all the rooms – the artistic and library at each end, and the function rooms in the centre. They were the three major tenants of the community facility. “Glulam columns are very striking; we have had tremendous experience with them in student residential projects. We were keen to express them as much as possible. They formed a lot of the internal pallet, and at the library end.” The award for Berninneit was one of three won by Jackson Clements Burrows, who won ‘Best of the Best’ and the award for Commercial Architecture for their T3 commercial building in Collingwood. ASH’s Masslam was also extensively used in the T3 building. Design work on Berninneit began in 2015. Several schemes followed before JCB took on the job in 2020.  

Professor Jeff Morrell has commenced as the first Director of Mount Gambier’s Forestry Centre of Excellence, ready to lead the centre into its next chapter as an international leader in forest industries for research, education, product and market development. Source: Timberbiz Globally renowned for his distinguished career in wood durability, Professor Morrell was selected following an international search. Professor Morrell has spent more than three decades leading the durability program at Oregon State University in the United States. He was also the director for the Centre for Timber Durability and Design Life based at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland from 2018 to 2023. The centre is a collaborative project between the State Government, the University of South Australia (UniSA) and the forest industry. The Centre is on the same site as the UniSA Mount Gambier campus, the new Mount Gambier Technical College, and the Mount Gambier TAFE – providing a unique opportunity to create an education, training, and research precinct. Vital research has already been underway including projects on: structural timber market access improving safety fire detection from cameras and satellites suppression, recovery, and analysis of digital forestry data using artificial intelligence immersive data analytics using VR and AR to understand the implications of climate change on plantation growth yield and water use. “I’m very pleased to join the team at Mount Gambier to help move the Forestry Centre of Excellence forward and I’m honoured to have been chosen to help direct the centre,” Prof Morrell said. “It’s an exciting time to be in forestry in Australia with the resurgence in interest in our discipline over the past few years and the support for the centre from industry, the State Government and Federal Government highlights the growing importance of our forests. “I am excited to work across the discipline to help create a vibrant Forestry Centre of Excellence that builds upon the many excellent projects already underway and contributes to the state. “I thank (Forestry Minister) Clare Scriven for her very dedicated support for establishing the centre as well as the various advisory bodies that have fostered this process. I look forward to working with her to help make the Centre a credit to the University, Industry and State.” Ms Scriven said Prof Morrell’s commencement as director is the latest in a series of exciting milestones for the Forestry Centre of Excellence following the successful launch late last year and imminent start of construction on the new facilities. “The Forestry Centre of Excellence will consolidate the Green Triangle’s strengths which have been built over generations and maximise the wealth of local knowledge, expertise and skills. “The (centre’s) focus on delivering global leading research, development and education will enhance the competitiveness, diversification and prosperity of the Green Triangle regional economy and communities, while building overall resilience in the Australian forest industry,” she said.

South Australia is celebrating a major milestone in its history with 2025 marking the 150th anniversary of the state’s forest and timber industries. Acknowledging this remarkable milestone, Members of Parliament, industry leaders and stakeholders gathered at the 2025 Parliamentary Friends of Forestry event to celebrate the foundational legacy of the industry and recognises South Australia as the birthplace of the nation’s commercial plantation forests. Source: Timberbiz From the first hectare of trees planted in 1875 in the Bundaleer Forests in the Mid-North, the industry has grown to 176,000 hectares, directly and indirectly supports over 21,300 jobs, processes the fibre that supports new homes, pallets that move the products we buy and many other industries. Our plantation forests are the foundation of our state’s future. South Australia has long been at the forefront of innovation and sustainable forest management and the launch of the 150th celebrations mark a proud reflection of the industry’s enduring success and its growing importance to the State’s economic value chain, regional development, and environmental sustainability. As part of the celebrations, the official 150th anniversary logo was unveiled which beautifully represents both the softwood and hardwood plantation species, while also capturing the essence of the sunrise industry that is the forest industries. “South Australia is proudly the birthplace of the nation’s commercial forestry plantations, with 2025 marking the 150th Anniversary since the State embarked on a journey of sustainable plantation forestry, and it was great to kick start the year-long celebrations with Members of Parliament, industry leaders and stakeholders at the Parliamentary Friends of Forestry event,” Tammy Auld, Chair of the South Australian Forest Products Association said “The forest industries are all around us and have been building our state and our nation over the last 150 years.  It is a critical industry for the nation’s future, and SAFPA, with support from the Government of South Australia, is pleased to coordinate celebrations to acknowledge the legacy and future opportunities of South Australia’s forest industries. “Understanding that forest products are embedded in our everyday lives and to connect the plantation forest tree to the product, SAFPA started the celebrations by sharing with all Members of Parliament a biodegradable bag full of products that are supported by our sustainable fibre – such as toilet paper, wine, eggs, and fruit and veg, wooden chopping board and pallets – all essential everyday items that are sustainably grown from our forest industries, the ultimate renewable.” Forest Industries Minister Clare Scriven said the anniversary served as a reminder of South Australia’s pivotal role in shaping the forest and timber industries in Australia and gives us an opportunity to celebrate the past, present and future contributions of this resilient and pioneering industry. “The Government have invested more than $19 million into the forest and timber industries and understand the forestry supply value chain is crucial to our State’s economic and environmental success.” The Shadow Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister Nicola Centofanti said she was proud to stand with SAFPA in celebration of this historic milestone. “Primary industries are crucial to the South Australian economy, and commercial forestry has been a cornerstone of our production for 150 years. It is a testament to the dedication of the people who created this sector, which today supports over 21,300 jobs and covers over 176,000 hectares of commercial plantings,” she said. “Timber is an essential product across multiple aspects of daily life and it is vital we support the businesses that ensure we create enough hardwood, softwood and fibres to not only meet our needs, but allow multiple related sectors to thrive. “There are fantastic career pathways in this sector, and I want to see more young people involved in the sector to ensure South Australia remains a strong player in this space. “Forestry is a fundamental part of the cultural fabric in many of South Australia’s regional towns, and I look forward to supporting these workers and their communities, well in our state’s future.” This monumental occasion also provides a unique opportunity to highlight how our industries touch our everyday lives in ways we might not recognise through showcasing a range of products that are supported by the forest industries. From paper bags to wine, eggs, fruit and vegetables and even the humble roll of toilet paper, the forest industries are a foundational element of our everyday lives. Throughout 2025, SAFPA will be shining a spotlight on our sustainable forestry industries and exploring the future of plantation forestry in South Australia, including the centrepiece Gala Dinner which will be held on 13 June 2025 in the heart of the Green Triangle, Mount Gambier. Forestry has been building our nation for the last 150 years and is a critical industry for the future and the next generation as we, as a nation, work towards building new homes, delivering a net-zero economy, replacing fossil fuel-based plastics, and exploring opportunities in biofuels and bioenergy.

With the likelihood of a Federal Election being called possibly within weeks, the Australia’s forestry and timber sector is reminding the members of the 47th Parliament and candidates hoping to be elected to the 48th Parliament that it can help ease the national housing crisis and build the homes of tomorrow. Source: Timberbiz The reminder comes at the same time new figures show the country fell almost 70,000 new homes short of its 2024 target. “Following the building boom spurred by COVID and subsequent downturn, Australia’s timber manufacturers have timber ready now to help build the new homes our country needs. Not only is our locally grown and processed timber a quality building material, but it also stores carbon, helping Australia fight climate change,” Australian Forest Products Association CEO Diana Hallam said. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show Australia fell 68,606 homes short of its 2024, 240,000 target – with detached housing approvals falling 2.8% in December. The Federal Election must be held no later than 17 May, with 12 April being widely tipped as the likely date. “As the Federal Election draws closer – Australia needs policy solutions on the table that will help drive construction of the new homes Australia needs for the future,” Ms Hallam said. “When you use Australian timber to build those homes the benefits multiply quickly. “You’re using a local and quality product that harnesses local industry and workforces – with many located in regional communities,” she said. “You then have the added benefit of significant carbon storage in the home and structural timber is a far more climate-friendly construction material than energy-intensive steel or bricks.” Last year AFPA launched in conjunction with Master Builders Australia (MBA) How Timber Can Help Solve Australia’s Housing Crisis showing the local forestry and timber sector’s capacity to help build 50,000 new homes annually. That capacity remains and stands ready and waiting with recent figures showing local structural sawn softwood sales at a nine-year low in 2023-24. “Our sector has the product ready to go to build new homes. We do however require effective national, state and local government policy to help boost the construction sector and encourage an uptick in building new homes with timber products,” Ms Hallam said. “AFPA will continue working with both the Albanese Government, Coalition and key crossbenchers in the Parliament to ensure as much of our wonderful home grown, sustainable timber goes into Australia’s new homes of tomorrow, supporting local economies, communities and helping fight climate change,” she said.

The ‘Ballast’ Myth – A lazy belief that came from an old yarn and is popular with web content providers looking for the exceptional and the ironic as a tagline for a timber story. “The past actually happened, but history is only what someone wrote down.” Comedian A. Whitney Brown As someone interested in history, I’m drawn to how people in the past saw their own lifetime – rather than how we see their lifetime through the lens of subsequent change. Without an interrogatory approach to the past, history may be stripped of its complexity, and the events of the past reduced to simple constructs and repeated myths. The timber industry has quite a few, and one of the more dogged myths about timbers like Oregon and Baltic Pine is that they arrived in Australia as ballast on sailing ships. Unfortunately, for tireless promoters of the theory on websites and in design magazines, it is a myth. It lacks both gravitas and relevance and it fails to address the realities of maritime trade in Australia from an early colony to the later era of building towns and cities. Here’s a working definition of ballast: Ballast is used to stabilize a ship in transit. Wooden sailing ships were extremely buoyant, and tall masts made them top-heavy. Ballast was added or removed from the hold at the bottom of the vessel depending on how much cargo, supplies, people, and weapons were on the ship to make sure the ship stayed upright in heavy seas. Once a ship got close to its destination, the ship would dump the ballast, often just outside the harbor. Ballast had to be heavy, available, and very cheap to procure. Otherwise, it needed to be saleable at a ready market price at the destination. Rock was obviously popular, but the dumping of ballast was eventually banned in many ports, and ships’ captains turned their gaze towards cargos that could be easily on-sold like ore, bricks, coal, terracotta tiles, or crates of cast iron products that could be stored low on the keel and not move about in heavy seas. If it wasn’t placed low on the keel, it wasn’t ballast it was simply cargo. But if it was cargo used as ballast, it was essentially still just cargo for anyone who wasn’t present on the sea voyage. The strategic placement in the ship’s hold was unimportant to an Australian buyer of heavy cargo. It was left to the bosun to work things out in the hold. And would he have kept a log of this activity or seen it as nobody’s business bar him and the cap’n? Should it hold any fascination for the eventual owner of the timber a century and more later? Can anyone nowadays be sure any item of cargo had a ballast function on the trip over? It’s unlikely. There is online just a broad assertion the cargo was ballast – with a minimal understanding of the business of mercantile sailing. There is not much ‘awesome’ here to go ‘wow’ about. It might have been more fascinating if the cargo had been up on a moonlit deck, which is precisely where timber was carried. On the deck. For timber arriving from Washington State in North America, special schooners were built in the late 19ce to suit the timber trade, and it is likely the cargos were a dedicated timber-only load on the outward leg to Australia. Sailing historian Hewitt Jackson notes that these lumber ships were built without the between-decks of the conventional schooners, and close to half their cargo was stowed on deck. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Coast_lumber_trade) The other element of this ‘Ballast’ Myth is inferred but never clearly stated. It ignores the essential requirement of ballast that it needed to be heavy and softwood timber isn’t yet implies that it arrived as free goods or for minimal cost or charge. You hear: Cost me an arm and a leg but it originally came out as ballast! The problem with this claim is that it’s too vague. The essential detail is missing and here’s the probable detail. In the early 19th-century shipping trade, if a ship was unlikely to get viable or profitable cargos on the ballast leg of a return trip, a ‘ballast bonus’ was sometimes paid as part of the freight cost on the other leg. The money leg. It meant the ship’s captain could be competitive with pricing cargos on the ballast leg since he already had a retainer and perhaps merchants of cast iron goods in Melbourne paid less for their heavy cargo inbound than wool buyers paid in Liverpool per pound or bale outbound. A sort of trade imbalance characterized shipping to the colony before the repeal of the British Navigation Act in 1848. Up to that date, trade could only be conducted by British ships, and Australia, as a small colony, was powerless to explore markets using foreign ships. However, according to John Bach in A Maritime History of Australia, the trading ban was enforced with less rigor in the last years of the Act. All sorts of private arrangements emerged. The ‘ballast bonus’ and variations of it, may have originated the ‘Ballast’ Myth regardless of the uncertainty about whether shippers passed on any discounts to the buyer or retained them. It should be remembered that trade in timber in this early colonial period up to 1848 was small in volume. The era of building growth and expansion in Australia that brought the Pacific trade and increased European trade spanned 1860 to 1901 in the colonial period and then post-1901 – the Federation era – when Australia had the freedom to pass her own Navigation Act. The west coast Oregon trade by sail was strongest in this new 20th century. In summary, timber cargo is unlikely to have arrived as true ballast in Australia even in the early colonial period. It wasn’t heavy enough in comparison to other cargo types carried concurrently. Most imports to Australia weren’t ballast. Some were. […]