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The Rudd Government promised to ban illegal logging imports as part of its 2007 election platform. Two years on, and the only action from Minister Tony Bourke is an underhanded attempt to back out of effective legislation and water down the election commitment.
Meanwhile, Australia’s timber industry, environmental groups and consumers are taking the issue into their own hands and are urging the Government to stay true to its word.
Industry takes the lead
A3P is the peak body for Australia’s plantation products and paper industry. Its members employ more than 13,500 people, create and sell more than $4 billion of products, produce more than 12 million cubic metres of logs, 3 million cubic metres of sawn timber and more than 2 million tonnes of paper.Along with Timber Queensland, the Furnishing Industry Association of Australia and timber importer Agora, A3P have joined a growing coalition of Australia’s largest timber industry bodies and environment organisations in a joint statement calling for legislation that bans illegal forest products imports.
”A3P urges the government to deliver on its stated election commitments to prevent the importation of illegal forest products into Australia, and to encourage the production and use of forest products sourced using sustainable forest management principles,” said CEO, Richard Stanton.
Read the Joint Statement and view the signatories
Ministerial document exposes Government back tracking
In July 2007, Kevin Rudd said that Labor would initiate a number of measures to combat illegal logging including seeking “a ban on the sale of illegally logged timber imports”. Part of this explicitly included a commitment to “identify illegally logged timber and restrict its import into Australia”.Greenpeace obtained a government minute signed by Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke, that reveals a significant watering down of the government’s election promise.
The minute authorises a policy objective that will remove any reference to a ban on illegally logged timber imports and does not include any commitment to identify illegally logged timber or restrict its importation.
