State-owned enterprise Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) has corrected the public record after previously telling parliament that all logs from Tasmania’s public native forests are processed within the state. The correction follows reporting by the ABC which found Tasmanian native forest logs were being sent to sawmills in Victoria.
In a statement, the Tasmanian Greens said that after years of questioning the practice, STT had written to the chair of the Government Business Enterprise committee to reverse its previous denials. Tasmanian Greens Leader, Dr Rosalie Woodruff, said in a statement that the company had “finally admit[ted]” that logs from public native forest harvesting are being shipped to Victoria for processing.
The issue has gained prominence since Victoria banned native forest logging from the beginning of 2024. Since the ban, some Victorian sawmilling businesses have been sourcing timber from Tasmania to continue operations. This has led to concerns within the local Tasmanian industry about being forced to compete with Victorian mills for access to Tasmanian resources.
Previously, STT’s public position was that it “sends sawlogs from native forests to customers with processing facilities (sawmills) in Tasmania” and that “No native forest sawlogs are being sent by Sustainable Timber Tasmania to Victoria.” The company clarified that some of its Tasmanian customers may process and then send timber to the mainland as part of their own business models.
The ABC’s reporting, and the subsequent correction from STT, confirms that logs sourced from Tasmania’s public forests are crossing the Bass Strait.
Forestry Australia president Dr Michelle Freeman told 3AW radio that the development was not surprising, according to a report from industry publication Wood Central. Dr Freeman said that shutting down native forest harvesting in one state does not make the demand for timber disappear and that the wood is simply sourced from somewhere else.
The original story was reported by ABC News (Tasmania).