{"id":30189,"date":"2025-11-14T18:31:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T08:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=30189"},"modified":"2025-11-15T01:26:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T15:26:47","slug":"protected-on-paper-exposed-in-court-new-reforms-are-forestrys-trojan-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/protected-on-paper-exposed-in-court-new-reforms-are-forestrys-trojan-horse\/","title":{"rendered":"Protected on Paper, Exposed in Court: New Reforms Are Forestry\u2019s Trojan Horse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The forestry industry appears to remain largely unaffected by the EPBC Reform. However, that change if litigation is launched by ENGOs under the Commonwealth\u2019s new National Environmental Standards (NES) &#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dcceew.gov.au\/about\/news\/hys-draft-national-environmental-standards\"> now published for public comment.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Native forestry is, at the best of times, a complex matter. This complexity runs from constitutional limitations on Commonwealth power through to the variability of state government regulations, which extend down to the diameter measurements of trees permitted for harvest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Environment Minister Murray Watt, however, has made three points clear:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There will be no specific forestry National Environmental Standard. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The new National Environmental Standards will apply to the forestry industry, and <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The current RFA exemption (in Part 4 of the Act) for approval under Part 9 of the Act (for matters in Part 3) will remain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The idea that the Commonwealth legislation concerns the environment generally is incorrect. The EPBC Act and the NES only concern threatened species. This is due to a constitutional limitation imposed by the Commonwealth. The balance of environmental matters sits with the States and Territories. The Commonwealth does not have control over land use or forestry operations in the States or forestry operations under State control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Under the Reforms, the National Environmental Standards are a condition for approval (Part 9 of the Act).\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An approval occurs because an \u201caction\u201d is present (this refers to any itemised item in Part 3 of the Act).\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>An \u201caction\u201d is an outcome or a likely outcome related to threatened species.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The assessment of an NES in relation to an \u201caction\u201d must be a \u201cnet gain\u201d \u00a0meaning the concept of \u201cnature positive.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"NM57aHqnxdg\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Environment Minister Murray Watt &quot;very confident&quot; in EPBC reform support | Insiders | ABC NEWS\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NM57aHqnxdg?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Murray Watt recently spoke about the overhaul of Australia&#8217;s environmental laws, including its impact on native forestry (from 10:10). Footage courtesy of @ABC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Commonwealth\u2019s powers in the environment area appear&nbsp; in the foreign treaty power in the Commonwealth Constitution. The only Treaties signed concern threatened species.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In one of the new standards called the Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES,) there is an \u201cunacceptable impacts test\u201d.&nbsp; This test has two parts: \u2018species\u2019 and \u2018habitat\u2019. This test outcome will need to be mitigated or avoided before a project can be approved (or commenced in the case of forestry).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For threatened species an \u201cunacceptable impact\u201d is where the impact \u201cseriously impairs\u201d the \u201cviability\u201d of the species \u201cto survive and recover in the wild in a particular region\u201d being \u201cseriously altered for the worse\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternatively, the impact is likely to cause serious damage to \u201ccritical habitat\u201d of the species, and the habitat is \u201cirreplaceable\u201d and necessary for the species to remain viable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNet gain\u201d must be shown with each approval where there is a residual impact.&nbsp; Net gain is obtained by an offset and\/or payment of a restoration contribution charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With &nbsp;regard to \u2018forestry operations\u2019, the immediate challenge for the Commonwealth Government is how are the NES conditions to an approval going to apply, when an approval is not required under the EPBC Act?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The Regional Forestry Agreements Act<\/em> is part of the Commonwealth -State forestry arrangements regarding this exemption from the EPBC Act. The Commonwealth seeks to regulate forestry in the States relating to &nbsp;threatened species through these statutory instruments of Federal-State arrangements.&nbsp; The Commonwealth &nbsp;has the constitutional power over threatened species and the States have the control &nbsp;over the land mass. &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;Amending this Act is unlikely as altering the Regional Forestry Agreements between the Commonwealth and States, which operate on a five-year rotation, presents problems of creating new agreements and transitional periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1366\" src=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k.jpg.webp\" alt=\"The Environmental Defenders' Office provides legal aid to special interest groups that contest mining and logging titles on environmental grounds. (Photo Credit: Leard State Forest on Flickr under Creative Commons)\" class=\"wp-image-15689\" srcset=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k-696x464.jpg 696w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k-1068x712.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k-1920x1281.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k-1320x880.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12178949764_3cf4bdcbb6_k-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Environmental Defenders&#8217; Office provides legal aid to special interest groups that contest mining and logging titles on environmental grounds. (Photo Credit: Leard State Forest on Flickr under Creative Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Commonwealth Government stated it supports a native forestry industry.&nbsp; Then &nbsp;it has to outline how it proposes &nbsp;the NES regime applies to &nbsp;the forestry sector. &nbsp;So far &nbsp;there has not been wide industry consultation on the issue.&nbsp; The challenge is&nbsp; the industry sector will require wide &nbsp;consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consultation on&nbsp; every aspect of the timber supply chain is important and required to &nbsp;understand the sector.&nbsp;&nbsp; This includes State Governments, private land holders, plantation owners and operators, harvest contractors and transport companies and saw millers and further processors. None of this is impossible, but it\u2019s a challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continuing misinformation from ENGOs includes disregarding State Government regulations, the science of silviculture, misusing technical terms for publicity and distortion of &nbsp;public data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Litigation, sometimes called lawfare, &nbsp;becomes a precise contest between and around the scientific findings of the impact of native forestry on threatened species and native habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The gift from the federal government of the EPBC Reform to the forestry sector, will be watching the rise of the various ENGOs and the EDO try to establish common law standing of the enforcement of public rights. This will be funded&nbsp; using money &nbsp;raised through charitable and DTG provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Expect to see them challenge &nbsp;Australia wide forestry operations on the basis of \u201cviability\u201d of species and serious damage to habitat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The forestry industry appears to remain largely unaffected by the EPBC Reform. However, that change if litigation is launched by ENGOs under the Commonwealth\u2019s new National Environmental Standards (NES) &#8211; now published for public comment. Native forestry is, at the best of times, a complex matter. This complexity runs from constitutional limitations on Commonwealth power [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":407,"featured_media":30190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[50,113,46,85,84,54,83,45,44,59,31,56,82],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[180],"class_list":{"0":"post-30189","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"category-australian-capital-territory","9":"category-industry","10":"category-new-south-wales","11":"category-northern-territory","12":"category-queensland","13":"category-south-australia","14":"category-sustainability","15":"category-sustainable-forest-management","16":"category-tasmania","17":"category-top-stories","18":"category-victoria","19":"category-western-australia"},"authors":[{"term_id":180,"user_id":407,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jackgreen","display_name":"Jack Rodden-Green","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/407"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30189"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30208,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30189\/revisions\/30208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30189"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=30189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}