VICTORIA’S green lobbyist are wailing and crying blue murder after the Allen Labor government lifted certain restrictions on the logging industry that ended the state forest-based timber industry in the state in 2024.
But Labor Party operatives and bureaucrats appears to have seen the light – at least partially – with a state forest by-products framework that began in April outlining how debris removed from forests as part of forest and fire management operations will be managed.
The timber has apparently been made available by the Department of Energy, Evironment and Climate Action as part of its work in forests to reduce bushfire risk, improve forest health and support a variety of recreational uses.
The new policy allows the state to sell trees from public forests to sawmills and firewood companies. Trees will be removed from forests by clearing new roads and fuel breaks, removing fallen trees following storms, and felling trees deemed hazardous.
It appears that the Victorian bureaucracy learned some hard lessons from previous fire emergencies such as the disastrous January and March firestorms this year that swept across vast areas of the state, blown by gale-force winds and fueled by “protected vegetation” in its path.
While the new deal only involves a limited revival of timber taking, the Victorian National Parks Association, the Wilderness Society, Environment Victoria and the Victorian Forest Alliance are demanding Premier Allan ban the selling of trees from public land to commercial timber mills and immediately rule out any logging in Victoria’s national parks and conservation reserves.
These city-based environmentalists, who for decades literally fought against and largely achieved the destruction of the timber industry in East Gippsland, are happy to see native timber grow into large trees, fall over and rot or be burned in bushfires, rather than be used for economic purposes.
These green extremists claim there’s no independent oversight to make sure works are actually necessary and to make sure damage to wildlife and habitats is limited. Commonsense would do the job.
According to tree hugger Jo Hopkins, Victorian campaigns manager for the Wilderness Society, the management framework is “riddled with loopholes” leaving DEECA as both operator and regulator of the by-products framework, “with nobody left to check what is happening on the ground”.
So what do the forgotten folk of East Gippsland think? Cairns News found a forum of them on Facebook discussing the part revival of their lifeblood industry.
“For years anti forestry activists, some local to East Gippsland, accused the native forest timber industry of being government- subsidised and loss making,” said Paul Hobby.
“I think what we’re seeing now is the reality that the native forest timber industry and associated industries such as sawmilling actually created a great deal of wealth and prosperity for local communities.
“VicForests did a terrific job of managing public forests while supplying high grade sawlogs to local sawmills and finding markets for lower grade logs. Government jobs always require government money, our money which is our taxes!
“The smartest thing to do is to bring the native forest timber industry back to Victoria.”
Mr Hobby put the question to Liberal leader Jess Wilson: “Jess Wilson MP does East Gippsland exist for you? Would you actually do anything?”
East Gippslanders won’t be holding their breath but Liberals need to wake up to changing times and public perception of things like “environmental awareness”.
David Batty said he was at primary school at Swifts Creek (the major timber town) in the 1980s, when the town’s two sawmills were the main employer and the town’s life line.
“Then we lost the Cassilis Mill on the Brookville Road turn off, then once we lost Ezards’ mill in town, Swifts Creek never recovered. The majority of the population of the town had to leave to seek employment elsewhere,” he said.
Timber company Pentarch confirmed earlier this year that seven employees had been made redundant at its Swifts Creek mill. Seven stayed on to pack down operations at the mill as part of its shutdown. Employees were offered jobs at Yarram, 234km south, where the company has another mill.
Mr Batty recalled Swifts Creek once having two petrol stations, a butcher, a bank, a milk bar and supermarket, two schools that ran independently and enough people in the community for footy and netball teams and tennis club.
“Today, it’s a very different town and, we’ve lost so much because the industries we used to have, to help keep the town going, have simply gone and with it people have left the area to find employment out of the town and out of the region.”
Sue Findley said the demise of Ezard Timber saw 120 people lose their jobs, from a population at that time of 275.
“The receivers did absolutely everything they could to keep it viable, but it was found there were no owned assets, it was all on hire purchase through the bank,” she said.
Brett Ralph from Eden, across the border to the north of Swifts Creek, said environmentalists threw tripods over timber workers in various acts of sabotage for three decades.
He says these days Eden has a chip mill and timber mills “firing like never before”. The chips are sold to China for biofuel.
Ironically, the greens control the local council that in desperation for some sort of economic activity, arranged to bring cruise ships to Eden. They are serviced by local volunteers. “We’ve become one of the poorest towns in the state,” said Mr Ralph.
Herbie Hodge said the demise of logging also affected neighbouring towns such as Ensay, on the Tambo River in central East Gippsland, where he lived. The sawmill in the town supported the local pub, a shop, primary school, senior and junior footy and netball teams.
“The only one left now is the pub. Many people then relied on the other services being at Swifts Creek and now one wonders of the future of these towns.”
Jason Duncan said his family lived at Ensay and his father worked at the mill in the early 80s. “I played my first game of football there and went to the primary school along with my older sister. Sad to see these places are just a skeleton of what used to be a beautiful little town.”
Herbie Hodge agreed with Mr Duncan. “Back in the days when I was going to primary school at Swifts Creek, Ensay was a thriving town, just like the Creek.
“I remember days when I used to be able to get fuel at Ensay and take away from the shop. Looking at the situation of Swifts Creek, it could end up like Ensay and Benambra, only difference is, you still have a pub, at the moment, we don’t at the Creek.”
Ensay’s old pub is just off the Great Alpine Road, and picks up tourism traffic and the few remaining locals for drinks and meals. The pub was put up for sale earlier in the year. The Swift Creek pub is also for sale.
Swifts Creek is one of 11 towns identified by the Victorian government in its Forestry Transition Program as being vulnerable to the shutdown of the state’s native timber industry, which closed in June 2024.
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