Queensland's Native Hardwood Industry

What can I do to support Queensland’s native hardwood industry?

Show your support by contacting your local member about the role of Queensland’s sustainably managed native hardwood industry in maintaining local jobs and providing much needed timber for future housing and building demand. 

Simply email or write to your local member, the Premier and the Minister for Agriculture & Fisheries, outlining your support for longer-term contract certainty and assurances for native hardwood processors.
 

Securing the future of Queensland's native hardwood industry

Queensland’s native hardwood industry makes a significant contribution to the state’s economy by providing durable and renewable timber products essential for housing and building construction. These products are used for decking, flooring, cladding, joists and structural beams and posts, as well as for furniture and cabinetry. Hardwood poles are also used for electricity poles to keep the power on across the Queensland network. The hardwood industry supports 6000 jobs across the state and contributes $700 million to the Queensland economy.

Background

In June 2024 the Queensland Government announced a new Queensland Sustainable Timber Industry Framework policy to help secure timber supply to meet the state’s growing population and housing needs. The new Framework policy can be found here.

The new Queensland policy framework has committed to start from a baseline that there should be no reduction in current overall timber supply levels between 2025 and the end of 2034.

For timber supply from public native forests, harvesting permits will also be issued for a further two years to 2026, given many of these permits expire at the end of 2024 in South-East Queensland.

The initial Timber Queensland response to the policy can be found here.

What is the issue?

While the new policy framework announced by the Government addresses a number of recommendations put forward by industry, including support for new plantation and private native forestry development, the issuing of only 2 year permits for access to public native forests is not consistent with this policy. This is because:

• it does not address the fundamental need for long term resource security for investment, putting at risk $140 million of planned investment in the native hardwood industry and jeopardising 6000 jobs

• it fails to maintain current supply levels through to 2034 by not providing long term supply certainty for permit holders

Assurances needed

Given these issues, Timber Queensland is seeking a number of written assurances from the Queensland Government, including:

• the Government provide long term state wood supply security for former South-East Queensland (SEQ) permit holders on the basis of three major factors, including previous decisions made by Government:

1. the ceasing of harvesting in the South-East Queensland Regional Planning Area (SEQRPA) at the end of 2024, which will reduce current supply volumes from this zone and make the need for longer-term resource security for industry even stronger

2. closing the former unsuccessful hardwood plantation program, which has failed to provide any long-term resource for industry

3. the need to provide longer-term and stable off-take agreements from Government for investment confidence for industry while supply from supplementary sources is developed under the 30-year plan

• that the issuing of hardwood supply commitments for former SEQ permit holders is based on current 2024 harvest contract volumes for sawlogs plus optional logs and poles, based on sustainable yields 

• that business assistance be provided to compensate for transport impacts from the reduced availability of timber supply from the SEQRPA and subsequent haul distances for permittees, as well as any variations in grade and quality mix that may arise from the need to secure resource volumes from other areas

Understanding the Impact