Last week the Victorian Government announced a new policy on Native Forest Management.

The key components for specifiers and builders are:

  1. ‘Old Growth harvesting will cease immediately (this is irrelevant to ASH).
  2. Current regrowth sawlog contracts will be extended until June 2024.
  3. From July 2024 to June 2030 there will be a reduced volume available.
  4. All Native sawlogs will not be available after June 2030 regardless of third party sustainable certification or not (includes PEFC and/or FSC certified native hardwoods).

This will most probably flow onto other States probably Tasmania to start with so this is imperative that we all work towards letting our politicians know that this will destroy many industries not just the logging industry.

As an industry we need to rally the troops.