The NSW hardwood supply chain has rubbished claims that the state’s $2.9 billion timber industry holds its wood supply agreements for free and without tender. Timber NSW CEO Maree McCaskill told Wood Central that Dailan Pugh of Forest Frontline had made “a number of false claims” around the basis on which agreements are held: “Wood supply agreements are not free, and the government sets the royalty, harvest and haulage rates,” she said.
Pugh, who is pushing a petition to establish new Richmond River Koala Parks across 56,200 hectares of state forest in the Richmond Valley in addition to the 175,000 hectares already promised by Premier Chris Minns, told supporters the NSW Government gives operators “set wood supply agreements, for free, and without tender” and that those holders could “sell them.” “We give them the timber, they don’t pay anything for it,” he claimed, “and when we don’t supply them the timber we promised them, we have to pay compensation.”
Steve Dobbyns, executive chair of Forest and Wood Communities Australia, rejected the narrative outright, pointing to the Community Service Obligation funding Forestry Corporation receives each year “to provide a range of community services including recreational facilities, education, regulatory and fire protection services.” He said the annual cost runs to around $17 million across 2 million hectares of state forest at approximately $8.50 per hectare, a figure that does not cover the full cost of managing the 50 to 60...
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