“We’re the single biggest port for hardwood chips being exported, in the world,” says Port of Portland chief executive Jim Cooper. It is a claim that can only be fully appreciated when standing atop one of the 40-metre mountains of blue gum woodchips that are waiting to be shipped from the port on Victoria’s south …
Conservationists says the government is trying to hush them after exposing dodgy practices. Thom Mitchell reports. The Victorian government has fined a conservationist who exposed what the Environment Minister described as “very disturbing” and “extremely poor practice” logging, despite reports he helped prepare becoming a catalyst for substantial reform of industry guidelines. In April this …
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) is examining ways to adjust Victoria’s forest management framework to increase safeguards for large old trees, while providing greater certainty for the timber industry around harvesting operations. DELWP Land Management Policy Executive Director Peter Beaumont said a recent review of the state’s regulatory framework for native …
The ABC, SBS and Australia Post could lose special regulatory treatment under trade measures being pushed for by the US. Leaked details of the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations, published today by WikiLeaks, reveal that the futures of publicly owned enterprises such as Australia Post, the ABC, SBS and state power utilities may be on …
The Victorian Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning will change logging regulations after clearing VicForests of illegal logging in East Gippsland. The state-owned VicForests has been cleared of logging cool temperate mixed rainforest in the Bendoc State Forest, near the NSW border. VicForests general manager Nathan Trushell said the organisation was pleased with the …
Compensation paid by developers who damage biodiversity may do more harm than good if it is misused by governments, say researchers. The team, writing in today’s issue of the journal Nature, argue that there is nothing to stop such ‘biodiversity offset’ funding from being used to carry out conservation work governments have already agreed to …
With recent changes to the renewable energy target, the burning of native forest wood waste can once again earn credits for generating clean energy, but there’s dispute about whether burning native forest waste for energy is ‘carbon neutral’. Background Briefing reports. The owners of one of Australia’s oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power stations‚ÄîHazelwood in Victoria’s …
The debate over native forest logging has been sparked once again, partly by the government’s successful push for wood burning to be included in the revamped Renewable Energy Target. However, the disagreement over the best way to manage Australia’s 9.4 million hectares of public native forest is thrown into sharp relief by analysis showing that …
A secret deal by the former State Government to supply Australian Paper with timber at a discounted fixed price has shed further light on the financial vulnerability of the Maryvale Mill. A Department of Treasury briefing, seen by The Express as supplied by The Age, reveals Maryvale Mill owner Australian Paper had failed to hand over …
The rules governing our native forests, RFAs, were drawn up nearly 20 years ago. They need to be thoroughly reviewed and updated to reflect the changes in the forestry industry that have occurred in the last two decades. BIT BY BIT, Tony Abbott is dismantling everything scientists are telling us we need to do to …
