Probe into log exports

By Kath Gannaway
THE Wilderness Society has asked the Victorian Ombudsman to investigate how unprocessed native hardwood logs were exported to China.
Wilderness Society Campaigns Manager Richard Hughes said they want an immediate halt to the export of whole logs and an investigation of all VicForests’ contracts.
The move follows an investigation by the Wilderness Society and My Environment which they say revealed tens of thousands of tonnes of high-quality sawlogs from the Central Highlands were being trucked to Melbourne’s docks, loaded into containers and shipped to China.
VicForests has a clause in its sales contracts stating that timber must be processed domestically in line with the Victorian Timber Industry Strategy.
It sells the timber at auction and is responsible for ensuring all the requirements of the contracts and the Victorian Timber Industry Strategy are met.
VicForests confirmed on 16 June that it was investigating the allegations and “were clarifying the circumstances which led to the export of some logs before processing”.
VicForests communications manager David Walsh has since told the Mail that the customer involved was initially meeting the domestic processing requirements outlined in their contract, but had since had supplies suspended because of non-compliance.
What constitutes processing, and VicForests’ ability to keep tabs on its customers is what concerns the Wilderness Society and My Environment.
Mr Hughes said there were very specific requirements in the VicForest contracts which were clearly not met – and that VicForests should have been aware.
He said cutting the ends off the logs so they will fit into the containers fell well short of meeting the processing requirements. “We only observed the logs being trimmed in the export yard and I would be very confident that what’s happening there is certainly not processing in terms of the contract or in terms of what any member of the public would see as process or value adding for Australian jobs,” he said.
VicForests CEO David Pollard, however, in an interview on the ABC program Stateline earlier this month claimed there were no regulations.
“None of this is covered by law; it is covered by understandings that have grown up in the forest industry over many decades,” he said.
Mr Walsh said while exporting unprocessed logs was not illegal, VicForests had consulted with key industry stakeholders prior to signing the contract with the customer involved to ensure the method proposed for processing – cutting a strip of timber from four sides of each log, complied with requirements.
He said part of VicForests’ ongoing plan was now to make sure processing requirements were being met if they chose to begin supplying the customer again.
That, however, is not good enough for the Wilderness Society or My Environment who see VicForests as part of the problem and have taken the matter to the Ombudsman.