January 2020
Horrendous fires ripped through eastern Victoria. This led to the logging industry opportunistically asking for government money (its second favourite activity) to log vital habitat and carbon stores (its first). Insanely, it even wanted to access national parks.
February 2002
This was a yuuuge month, not least because the CEO of VicForests began her Twitter account, in the naive belief that people would believe anything she said. Spoiler: we didn’t.
Each tweet below contains questionable assertions. As does her profile.
Twitter account VicForests CEO
March 2020 #1
With no consultation, VicForests attempted to log old growth forest at Toolangi – the ‘Zinger’ coupe.
Protests by local residents, a tree sit and constant calls to various ministers sees it give up and leave. A success, but it’s exhausting fighting these battles
March 2020 #2
The Supreme Court stopped logging in a total of 26 coupes, as a result of court action brought by Wildlife of the Central Highlands (begun in January).
April 2020
Kinglake Friends of the Forest 👋 write to IBAC, alleging that VicForests’ serial lying ‘has the potential to diminish public confidence in the public sector’.
They declined to investigate. It was a longshot, admittedly.
May 2020 #1
This is big: the Federal Court hands down its judgement in the Leadbeater’s case, finding that VicForests is failing to apply the precautionary principle in assessing the harm done by its logging operations. So it has been breaking the federal EPBC Act.
May 2020 #2
That’s the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act to you.
The judge made a few observations about VicForests and its inherent inability to simultaneously protect nature and log commercially.
VicForests responded by a) appealing and b) downplaying.
June 2020
Kinglake Friends of the Forest 👋 launches a court case against VicForests, alleging it has broken its own regulations about net coupe areas to be logged, as well as logging along roads.
Bunnings bans wood logged by VicForests (30 June)
July 2020
Bunnings in Traralgon blockaded by logging contractors angered by Bunnings’ decision not to take wood logged in Victoria’s native forest.
Despite Bunnings clearly indicating YEARS earlier that VicForests needed to get its act together if it wanted to be a supplier.
August 2020 #1
VicForests ‘postpones’ effort to achieve Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation. Which is like loudly rejecting an invitation to a party you were never going to be invited to. See October.
August 2020 #2
Spin Reality
September 2020
As a result of one (1) academic paper linking logging with increased fire risk being retracted, due to an error in its categorisation of forest, the Senate passed this Motion.
Whilst the paper was retracted for an error, the Motion itself is awash in inaccuracy.
October 2020
The FSC denies VicForests accreditation for several reasons, including lack of stakeholder engagement, logging habitat, and logging old growth.
The logging industry’s main news outlet, Timberbiz, had its Twitter account suspended, possibly for defamatory comments.
November 2020
Kinglake Friends of the Forest launches a second court case against VicForests, this time alleging overharvesting of Bushfire Moderation Zones. It’s complicated, don’t ask.
December 2020
VicForests’ Annual Report released. Despite getting its feedstock for free, and various additional government payments (and wtf is this mysterious $12 million for?) it STILL manages to make a $7.5 million loss.
The Executive get to keep their six figure salaries.
Can’t wait to see what happens to this clowncar in 2021.
This thread is dedicated to you, @DanielAndrewsMP, for continuing to support this economically unsustainable, ecologically damaging, morally bankrupt industry with our money just for the brazen heck of it.
Advocating for the protection of native forests of Kinglake and the Central Highlands of Victoria
