Forest Products Industry

For a decade, the Victorian government-owned forestry controller VicForests has been a tinderbox of incompetence looking for a match. Gifted a near monopoly on Victoria’s forestry, it is my view that the organisation has failed to manage our timber industry. Too many forestry contractors working for VicForests broke the rules. From reports of logging outside allocations to logging old-growth forests, this has gifted activists’ solid legal pathways to halt harvesting and in turn, practically bankrupted the state-owned organisation. VicForests is yet another Victorian example of bureaucracy gone wrong. When they broke the rules, they lobbied the government to change them. When caught by activists, they employed private investigators to, according to the ABC, spy on them. When challenged in court they spent millions of taxpayer funds defending the indefensible. VicForests had so much rope they managed to hang themselves along with the state’s timber industry. One might ask where the state government was in all of this, considering the body charged with the industry oversight the, Office of Conservation Regulator, did not do enough to hold VicForests accountable… A cynic might believe the Green-Labor government was only too happy to watch the forestry industry vanish. I think VicForests should be shut down, but it shouldn’t take the industry with it. The state government, under new leadership, must go back to the drawing board on forestry. Timber is essential for the construction industry, our country’s manufacturing sovereignty and has the modern virtue of sequestrating massive volumes of carbon. The framework for successful forestry management already exists within the non-government Forestry Stewardship Council. The principals of the council are scientifically based, independently audited, and already cover 200 million hectares of forest globally. The state government, alongside the FSC, should set an allocation each year and let logging contractors bid for a license to harvest. Licensees would need to demonstrate ongoing compliance, with failure to do so resulting in suspension. The state government can provide a framework for the industry, issue and collect license fees, but should not have direct involvement in the business of forestry. If the result of accountability is reduced timber yield at a higher cost, let the market decide what it’s willing to pay. As it stands for manufacturers the price point of Victorian Ash is at least 30% less than the next comparable hardwood species. In practical terms that’s hundreds of millions in margin across the current allocation. Money which could go toward better forestry management, local jobs and saving the taxpayer. Marcus Bastiaan is a director at Specialty Doors

To say that the money spent on the Green Triangle’s network of smoke detection cameras was well spent is an understatement. That at least 33 fire events were averted in the most recent fire season is nothing short of amazing. The system also positively identified 24 planned fuel reduction burns for a total of 57 detections for the season as well as the detection of thousands of private permit burns late in the season. This meant fire brigades were not sent on time consuming wild goose chases. The Pano AI system was installed in south-east South Australia as part of the South Australian Government’s $2.346 million upgrade of the region’s fire tower network, with $1 million targeting the new technology. The program also received significant support and funding from forest industries. Spanning 14 locations – seven in the South East and seven in Western Victoria – Pano AI offers a comprehensive turnkey solution that integrates high-definition cameras, satellite feeds, artificial intelligence, and modern cloud software to detect and pinpoint new ignitions and alert fire professionals within minutes. The key to keeping fires small and limiting the impact on industry and the community is through rapid response and the world-leading actionable intelligence helps fire crews get to the scene faster and safer. “South Australia’s $1.4 billion forest industry has had a long and strong history of embracing cutting-edge technology and the implementation of Pano’s AI fire detection system continues this proud legacy,” South Australian Minister for Primary Industries, Regional Development and Forestry, Clare Scriven said last year. “Unfortunately, fire doesn’t recognise boundaries so this collaborative State Government/industry initiative in utilising this ground-breaking technology helps us to ensure the best fire management tools are at our disposal. This is a system that isn’t just for the benefit of the Green Triangle forest region but is a win-win for all other landscape users, primary producers and local communities,” she said. Of course, the Minister is dead right. And it’s the sort of technology that needs to be rolled out across the country. It’s relatively cheap, and will get cheaper, and it will in the long run save money, time, jobs, and most importantly, lives.