The former Chair of the Commonwealth Government\u2019s Forest Industry Advisory Council (FIAC) has delivered a blunt assessment of the Australian Government\u2019s Independent Review of the EPBC Act, arguing the 2020 Samuel Review is \u201cdeficient and underwhelming\u201d and provides no credible justification for dismantling Australia\u2019s Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to Wood Central following a key stakeholder meeting on Friday, Rob de F\u00e9gely AM, who from 2012 to 2017 was elected president of the Institute of Foresters for Australia (now known as Forestry Australia<\/a>), said he felt \u201chonour bound\u201d to speak publicly because the Review examined forestry issues \u201con my watch and we were not made aware of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n de F\u00e9gely \u2014 who now chairs Sustainable Timber Tasmania and sits on the board of Forestry Corporation of NSW \u2014 stressed that his views are personal and independent of those organisations. Even so, he warned that the Commonwealth\u2019s decision to move away from RFAs has \u201ccreated massive uncertainty\u201d for staff, contractors and customers across public forest agencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe process that was announced on the 27th of November last year is fraught with challenges and, in my experience, probably unworkable.\u201d<\/p>Rob de F\u00e9gely, the former Chair of the Commonwealth Government\u2019s Forest Industry Advisory Council (FIAC) who spoke to Wood Central today about the “deficient and underwhelming” report which gave justification for winding back the RFAs. <\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n