Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Mackellar and rise to speak in support of her motion on native forest logging. As we strive to meet our targets of reducing emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 and achieving zero extinctions, it's imperative that we put an end to the logging of native forests in Australia.

Native forest logging is harmful to our health. We're now in the burning season in Victoria. Clear-fell logging burns are a necessary component of the commercial extraction of pulp logs and saw logs. They clear the land of a huge vegetation biomass left behind after logging: the branches, bark and downed understorey vegetation. They do not reduce bushfire risk to life and property, but they do render our forests more vulnerable to high-severity crown-consuming bushfires, with their associated risks to communities.

There are days, and Melburnians know them well, when the harmful smoke emissions from clear-fell burns affect air quality over all of our state, posing serious health risks, especially to those with respiratory illnesses. We have to recognise this smoke for what it is: a form of industrial pollution with long-term impacts on health which benefits only private commercial interests. We are choking on the logging industry's slash and burn approach. Native forest logging is also harmful to rural communities. It impacts on their water supplies, their bushfire risk and their tourism opportunities.

Native forest logging is harmful to our economy. It's no longer profitable and it's rapidly losing jobs, yet it continues to receive government subsidies and protection. In 2020, the Parliamentary Budget Office estimated that immediately ending native forestry in Victoria could save as much as $190 million over a decade. That was before VicForests posted a loss of $54 million in 2022. In New South Wales, taxpayers paid $441 per hectare to subsidise logging of critical native forests in 2021.

Logging of native forests also undermines the potential of the much more sustainable and economically viable plantation sector. Ninety-three per cent of our plantation timber is shipped overseas. Rather than shipping plantation timber from western Victoria 6,000 kilometres to the Asia-Pacific region, we should be transporting it 250 kilometres up the road to the mills of central Victoria. We should be processing Australian timbers in Australia. We need to support the plantation sector and ensure that it thrives while rapidly phasing out the unsustainable native forest industry.

Native forest logging is harmful to our unique and precious wildlife species. Our koalas face a dire future because of the habitat loss caused by deforestation. Logging is creating food deserts as our forests are shifted towards junk-food tree species which koalas and greater gliders just can't eat. In Victoria our state's faunal emblem, the Leadbeater's possum, will be rendered extinct if logging continues. We have to take decisive action to protect biodiversity and ensure the survival of these species.

Finally, native forest logging is harmful to our climate. It's one of the leading causes of carbon emissions in Australia, as it reduces our carbon stores and releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This deforestation not only contributes to climate change; it also undermines our ability to meet our emissions targets. The regional forest agreements were originally intended to balance conservation and logging interests, but they are outdated and ineffective.

The forthcoming amendments to the EPBC Act present a real opportunity to make meaningful change. Firstly, we need the RFAs to be subsidiary to the EPBC Act rather than trumping it. The nature repair market bill that was recently proposed by this government seeks to hold participants accountable to the highest standards in order to ensure that environmental goals are achieved. The government has to lead by example. If it is genuine about repairing the environment, how can we, in any conscience, continue to log native forests? If we're serious about protecting our natural environment, we have to change the EPBC Act to stop native forest logging and prioritise sustainable land management practices. (Time expired)

Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:26

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