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Sustainable Timber Tasmania says it has substantially completed the development of new long-term wood supply arrangements that will guide timber supply through to 2040, replacing existing agreements due to expire in 2027. Source: Timberbiz It says a key feature of the new contracts is a requirement that logs sourced from Tasmania’s public production forests are processed in Tasmania. STT says new wood supply contracts would additionally result in future sawlog supply reflecting the increasing role of Tasmania’s maturing plantation resource, while sustainably managing native forests. STT CEO Dean Kearney said the new arrangements supported both the future evolution of Tasmania’s wood supply mix and continued investment in local processing. “The future of Tasmania’s wood supply is increasingly about the right mix of plantation and native forest resources, backed by local processing, local investment and long-term certainty for industry,” he said. “Tasmania’s sawmilling sector is continuing to invest in new technology, new products and expanded processing capability. These contract changes recognise that investment and support the continued growth of local processing and value-adding.” The new on island processing requirement is intended to support local jobs, encourage further investment and ensure more of the value generated from Tasmania’s public forest resource remains within the State. “Our responsibility is to manage Tasmania’s public forest resource for the benefit of Tasmania. By strengthening on-island processing, we can support local businesses, local jobs and the next generation of investment in Tasmania’s wood processing sector,” Mr Kearney said. The on-island processing requirement forms part of STT’s broader long-term wood supply arrangements, which are designed to provide certainty for customers while supporting sustainable industry development and economic outcomes for Tasmania.

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Monday’s Four Corners investigation into Australia’s native forestry sector has been described as flawed, one-sided, unbalanced and lacked important scientific evidence and industry context. Source: Timberbiz AFPA Acting CEO Richard Hyett said the misleading program was not interested in accurately reflecting the latest science, environmental credentials and economic importance of Australia’s innovative forestry industry. “(The) story was not balanced, accurate or fair, and blatantly prioritised activism over credible journalism,” Mr Hyett said. According to the ABC, after Victoria banned native forest logging in 2024, questions were repeatedly asked in Tasmania about whether logs were crossing Bass Strait to be processed by Victorian sawmills in receipt of compensation payouts. The Four Corners investigation showed that this was the case, resulting in state-owned logging company Sustainable Timber Tasmania updating an answer it had given in parliament. Tasmanian sawmill operator James Neville-Smith confirmed to Four Corners that some logs had been sent to Victoria, where processors had received compensation from the Victorian government as part of its industry shutdown. Mr Neville-Smith told the program the decision was due to retooling a sawmill to be plantation-only, meaning that hardwood logs needed to be processed elsewhere. The ABC conceded that contracts with sawmillers did not include an explicit requirement for logs to be processed in Tasmania, but that it would be included in contracts under negotiation to cover 2027 to 2040. But Mr Hyett said the program had ignored the evidence supporting Australia’s world-leading forest management systems and failed to present a balanced assessment of a sustainable industry that provides renewable products, regional jobs and significant environmental benefits. “Disappointingly, Four Corners revoked an opportunity for AFPA – the peak national body for forestry – to provide an industry response, despite inviting our spokesperson to speak in April. “We were one of many industry representatives who were ignored or misrepresented by Four Corners.” Mr Hyett said the program also failed to acknowledge the real-world consequences of the short-sighted decisions to end native forestry in Victoria and Western Australia. “Evidence-based research shows domestic demand for timber and wood products does not stop – and these shutdowns only increase our reliance on imported hardwood products, sourced from Indonesia and Brazil that don’t operate under Australia’s world-class forest management systems,” Mr Hyett said. “Native bans in Victoria and WA have also had devastating impacts on regional jobs and communities, local economies and long-term investment in Australia’s sixth-largest manufacturing sector. “Rather than slamming an industry contributing more than $24 billion a year to the economy, Four Corners should have focused on the need to invest in sustainable forestry and support essential Australian-made products used every day, including flooring, decking, furniture, pallets, packaging, paper and power poles. “The 80,000 Australians employed in forestry in many regional communities would also take offence to working for a ‘zombie industry’, as one academic incorrectly claimed in the story. “No wonder the One Nation vote is soaring in Australia, given this type of baseless rhetoric from our national broadcaster. “We can’t afford to weaken our sovereign manufacturing capability or continue outsourcing timber production overseas.  Sustainable native forestry has an important role to play in Australia’s economic and environmental future.” The ABC reported that on Saturday, Sustainable Timber Tasmania chief executive officer Dean Kearney wrote to a government business scrutiny committee to update an answer given in parliament in November. “STT’s acting chief executive officer advised that all sawlogs delivered by STT to its customers were processed in Tasmania,” he wrote. “That advice was understood to be correct at the time, and it was provided in good faith. “STT has since become aware that a small quantity of sawlogs delivered by STT to Tasmanian customers were on sold and processed interstate. “STT was not informed of these arrangements at the time.” In an interview with Four Corners, Resources Minister Felix Ellis said all logs from public forests were provided to mills in Tasmania. He was later made aware that some were being on sold to interstate processors. Mr Ellis described that as “disappointing”.

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