IN another shocking blow for Victoria’s timber and construction industries, it has been revealed this week that not one single tree from the State Government’s 2019 pledge to plant 50,000 hectares of timber plantations, has been planted.

This will potentially have a devastating impact on Victoria’s already fledgling timber supply into the future.

The plantation was part of the government’s $110 million investment to develop new plantations under its 30-year Victorian Forestry Plan, that included phasing out native forest logging in Victorian public forests by 2030.

At the time, the government pledged to address the supply and demand of sawlog needs within Victoria, by providing the extra 50,000 hectares on top of the already planted 550 hectares, to be delivered within the full native logging ban timeline.

However, this week, the ABC reported that the government stated the plantation site (in East Gippsland) is “not suitable for development as the main site for the commercial scale state forest nursery”.

The Opposition has slammed the government for its failure to deliver on the plantation stating it will add to the significant stress on the shortage of supply already experienced in the timber and construction industries.

Shadow Agriculture minister, Peter Walsh said the government’s ineptitude to manage Victoria’s forestry, and short-sighted timber ban, will cost Victorian livelihoods and stall construction of new homes.

“Labor’s claims of a ‘transition plan’ are nothing more than a cruel hoax,” he said.

“Victoria’s native timber industry supports tens of thousands of local jobs in harvest and haulage, at timber mills, and in furniture-making and manufacturing - all will be axed by Labor in 2030 if the ban isn’t reversed.

“The ban will also guarantee more delays for Victorians dreaming of building their own home.

“Native timber is crucial for flooring, doors, window frames and fixtures, while plantation is used for housing frames.

“Builders are already facing nine-month delays for timber trusses and say material supply shortages are contributing to houses now taking 30 per cent longer to build.”

The government’s own modelling acknowledged that decades are required for plantations to be ready for harvesting and to produce high quality sawlogs.

A Victorian Government spokesperson said that due to a decrease in available native timber resources because of fire, wildlife protection, and changing consumer preferences, the 2019 plan included a gradual phase out of all logging in native forests by 2030, to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere by 1.71 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent each year for 25 years – the equivalent of taking 730,000 cars off the road annually.

The Victorian Forestry Plan also included immediately protecting 90,000 hectares of Victoria’s remaining rare and precious old growth forest – aged up to 600 years old.

“At the same time consumer and retail demand has grown for plantation-based timber products,” the spokesperson said.

“The Victorian Forestry Plan has always been about transitioning the native forest industry to a range of new opportunities by 2030 and setting up a strong plantation-based sector for decades to come.

“As the industry changes, we have a $200 million package ready to support workers, businesses and communities as well as investing $110 million to develop new plantations.

“Victoria is already home to Australia’s largest timber plantation estate, with five out of six trees coming from plantations.

“The Gippsland Plantation Investment Program will deliver a considerable expansion of Victoria’s plantation estate.”

However, the spokesperson would not comment on the specifics of the program other than to say it was well advanced, with commercial negotiations underway with a preferred applicant.

“The Gippsland Plantation Investment Program is being finalised and while negotiations continue, the detail remains confidential,” they said.

A Victorian Government commissioned Environmental Sustainability report in 2019 stated that even with the additional 50,000 hectares being established, there will still be a supply gap due to the time needed to realise the production availability of this plantation.

Mr Walsh said that the demand for timber products would still be there when the government axed the industry in eight years’ time.

“But there won’t be enough supply to meet demand,” he said.

Timber Towns Victoria president and Glenelg Shire councillor, Karen Stephens was present at a roundtable with timber industry stakeholders and community leaders in Gippsland this week regarding the native timber crisis.

Mrs Stephens said that while the shutdown of the native timber forests on public land directly impacted jobs and livelihoods in Gippsland, the plantations in the Green Triangle are not affected, as they are on privately owned plantations.

“However, our state parks in the south-west are no longer being managed the way they used to be,” she said.

“State forests were locked up twenty years ago and now they are overrun with wild deer, pigs and noxious weeds.

Mrs Stephens said that the significance of the phasing out and locking up of the timber coupes and shortages of native timber are stretching resources.

“One major timber supply company is importing uncertified timber from Indonesia to make up for the shortage, however, a lot of building companies in Australia won’t deal with them because of this,” she said.

“Australian timber is certified.

“This means it is recognised under international forest certification schemes that provide for legal and sustainable forest management.

“By importing timber from Indonesia, rainforests and villages are being stripped of vegetation, causing landslides in rural areas, and displacing native fauna, including orangutans.

“It’s not sustainable to be importing timber that is not accredited.

“So, for the politically motivated environmentalists to be campaigning against local native timber harvesting, is hypocritical.

“But they won’t see reason.

“They can’t see that good forest management is actually good for the environment and a positive influence to tackle climate change.”