Last week the Victorian State Government announced that public native forestry would cease in 2030.
Victoria, being a relatively progressive State, has been wrestling with the “forestry” issue for decades, with numerous Plans, Strategies, Reports, industry and community consultations, promises and backflips. This was just the latest manifestation:
https://www2.delwp.vic.gov.au/futureforests
The public native forest industry has been in decline for decades, but the industry wants to ensure that the end, when it comes, is as slow, painful and costly as possible.
Forest industry apologists bleat about how vital public native forestry is to the future of humanity!! Apparently the world will end if we stop chopping down public native forest.
Industry apologists also love talking about “balance”; that there is a balance between conservation and exploitation of our native forests. The industry has in the past attempted to impose a “balance” on our forests but without success.
Why?
Because public native forestry is 100% politics. To say there is a “balance” in public native forestry is to say there is a “balance” in politics! There is no such thing!
Does anyone believe 2030 will be the year welfare forestry ends?
Not likely. There are plenty of elections between now and then with plenty of changes of Government.
But this is definitely another nail in the coffin of the industry.
The only reason Victoria logs public native forest is to subsidise a few jobs. It is a very expensive wasteful employment program. That is all!
Private tree growers do NOT grow trees to subsidise jobs.
Public native (Welfare) forestry prevents a real forest industry from becoming established in Australia.
As a forester I look forward to the day Australia finally has a real forest industry.
Tasmanian Blackwood Growers Cooperative 
You are losing it now gordon…there are benefits to accrue from properly managed multiple use native forests that extend way beyond industrial timber production…we need to manage tree growing land across the spectrum from zero harvesting / max ecology to maximum commercial / min ecology areas and your simplistic diatribes font help rational debate on the benefits that accrue from the choices we make… Yes, i too am a forester….
Sent from my iPad from brett waring
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Hi Brett,
“benefits to accrue”?? There have been zero accrued benefits in public native forestry for many decades.
In fact the balance sheet is decidedly in the negative on all fronts, and the longer this charade goes on the worse the damage will be to the entire forest industry.
Cheers
Gordon