{"id":30621,"date":"2025-11-28T15:12:03","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T05:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=30621"},"modified":"2025-11-28T16:23:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T06:23:52","slug":"native-forestrys-death-greatly-exaggerated-union-corrects-the-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/native-forestrys-death-greatly-exaggerated-union-corrects-the-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Native Forestry\u2019s \u2018Death\u2019 Greatly Exaggerated \u2014 Union Corrects the Record"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The death of Australia\u2019s native forest industry has been greatly exaggerated, according to Michael O\u2019Connor, National Secretary of the Timber, Furnishing and Textiles Union (TFTU) \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.actu.org.au\/directory\/timber-furnishing-textiles-union-tftu-national-office\/\">Australia&#8217;s only union dedicated to timber workers.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>O\u2019Connor, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.responsiblewood.org.au\/discover-responsible-wood\/governance\/\">who also serves on the board of Responsible Wood &#8211; Australia&#8217;s largest forest certification scheme<\/a>, said the Greens, opposition MPs and some industry associations are \u201cway off the mark\u201d in claiming that new environmental laws will spell the end for native forestry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Greens are way off the mark by claiming this is the death of native forestry,\u201d he said, adding that the union fully expects the industry\u2019s environmental management system to stack up when assessed against the new standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He cautioned that \u201csome Liberal and National Party MPs and industry bodies should be cautious about mimicking Green talking points,\u201d and stressed that \u201cour union expects the sector to do well if the new standards are sensible and applied in a reasonable, evidence-based way \u2014 which we\u2019ll be pushing for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: Our stronger environment laws have just passed the parliament.<\/p>&mdash; Senator Murray Watt (@MurrayWatt) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MurrayWatt\/status\/1994175822458978363?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 27, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the reforms, environmental assessments of forestry operations \u2014 currently managed through the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) framework \u2014 will shift to an alternative accreditation pathway aligned with the yet-to-be-finalised National Environmental Standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur call is simple,\u201d O\u2019Connor said. \u201cThe finalisation of the standards \u2014 and the assessment of operations against them \u2014 must ensure ongoing active and sustainable forest management, support sustainable development in timber communities, and deliver a stronger future for the workers who manage these forests and those whose livelihoods they sustain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The union believes any structural impacts from the new standards are unlikely to exceed existing supply pressures, including reductions linked to the Great Koala National Park in New South Wales and the long-forecast 50 per cent decline in native forest sawlog volumes from Sustainable Timber Tasmania from 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, O\u2019Connor welcomed the establishment of the Forestry Industry Growth Fund, which will provide concessional finance for retooling, workforce training, safety upgrades and productivity improvements. He also praised the recognition of forestry, timber and wood products manufacturing as a Priority Industry under the Future Made in Australia National Interest Framework \u2014 alongside hydrogen, critical minerals and green metals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese are practical steps the Australian Government is taking to address policy settings and market disruptions affecting supply and profitability,\u201d he said. \u201cOur union will continue working with the Australian and State Governments, and good, willing and capable employers, to overcome challenges and seize opportunities so that existing timber jobs are protected \u2014 and new, well-paid and secure jobs are created.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We&#39;re protecting the environment while speeding up approvals for housing and renewables. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/82xKTzhAS9\">pic.twitter.com\/82xKTzhAS9<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlboMP\/status\/1993812694512881712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 26, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/albanese-sacrifices-forestry-in-last%e2%80%91minute-deal-to-beat-the-christmas-rush\/\">It comes after Wood Central revealed that forestry was included in an eleventh-hour deal between Labor and the Greens<\/a>, allowing a 26-year update to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act to pass Federal Parliament days before the summer recess. Under the deal, Australia\u2019s 10 RFAs \u2014 covering Eden, Upper and Lower East NSW; five regions in Victoria; all of Tasmania; and WA\u2019s southwest \u2014 along with agricultural land clearing, will be brought under the EPBC Act from July 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jack Rodden-Green, a legal expert on these matters, warned that the bill could have far-reaching consequences. \u201cThis bill could have enormous implications for not only public native forestry, but potentially all types of land-based activities,\u201d he said. \u201cRFAs cover all types of forests \u2014 including native and plantation forests. It is essentially a bilateral agreement whereby the Montreal process, modified by the RFA Act and EPBC, applies to state land.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The death of Australia\u2019s native forest industry has been greatly exaggerated, according to Michael O\u2019Connor, National Secretary of the Timber, Furnishing and Textiles Union (TFTU) \u2014 Australia&#8217;s only union dedicated to timber workers. O\u2019Connor, who also serves on the board of Responsible Wood &#8211; Australia&#8217;s largest forest certification scheme, said the Greens, opposition MPs and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[50,113,46,85,84,54,83,45,44,59,56,82],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":{"0":"post-30621","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"category-australian-capital-territory","9":"category-industry","10":"category-new-south-wales","11":"category-northern-territory","12":"category-queensland","13":"category-south-australia","14":"category-sustainability","15":"category-sustainable-forest-management","16":"category-tasmania","17":"category-victoria","18":"category-western-australia"},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jason","display_name":"Jason Ross","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30621"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30625,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30621\/revisions\/30625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30621"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=30621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}