Victorian Sawmills Receive Tasmanian Logs After State Logging Ban

Victorian sawmills have increased purchases of Tasmanian native forest logs since the state banned logging in its own public forests at the start of 2024. Four Corners tracked one shipment of Tasmanian logs to Powelltown Sawmills in Victoria's Yarra Valley. The mill received $9 million in transition compensation from the Victorian government.

Public forest harvesting in Tasmania Tasmania's state-owned timber company continues to harvest public forests under rules the state government describes as among the world's strictest. Environmentalists Paul O'Halloran and Patrick Johnson documented hundreds of log truck movements at the Devonport ferry terminal beginning in 2023.

The Tasmanian government maintains that logs leaving the state come only from private land. O'Halloran and Johnson question that account given the volume observed.

Victorian transition funding Victoria set aside $1.5 billion to help the timber industry move away from native forest logs. Australian Sustainable Hardwoods received more than $49 million of that fund. Forensic accountant Daniela Juric reviewed eight years of the company's records and found the payments enabled purchases of Tasmanian timber.

The firm now obtains roughly half its supply from Tasmanian native forests and half from plantations. ASH managing director Vince Hurley said the payments were contractual compensation for the loss of Victorian log supply and have been used to expand manufacturing capacity.

The company employs 200 people. In 2017 the Victorian government paid $61 million for a 49 percent stake in ASH. The same year the company and its shareholders acquired a Tasmanian sawmill that supplies native forest logs. James Neville-Smith, owner of a third-generation Tasmanian timber business, confirmed selling public forest logs to Victorian mills after retooling one of his own facilities for plantation timber only.