2026-06-23
In response to shocking revelations about the continuation of logging in Victoria, and Victorian sawmills fuelling forest destruction in old forests in Tasmania - the Victorian Greens will introduce a Bill to Parliament to close loopholes in the law that allow these destructive practices to continue.
The Greens bill would:
- Make it illegal for mills in Victoria to process native forest timber from anywhere in Australia - including old forests in Tasmania
- Ban logging on private land
- Prevent logging companies from exploiting bushfire and storm processes
- Repeal laws that would enable future governments to bring back native logging on public land - future-proofing Victoria’s ban on commercial logging
It comes after it was revealed that Powelltown Sawmills, which received $9 million in compensation from the Victorian Government to transition out of native forest logging, has been using this money to help export native timber from Tasmania to Victoria, fuelling further destruction of Tasmania’s precious old native forests.
Native forest logging was banned in Victoria at the start of 2024 after decades of campaigning from the Greens, environmental and First Nations groups.
But a recent investigation by the Victorian Auditor General, in response to a request from Greens Leader Ellen Sandell, found significant oversight and monitoring issues with a $320 million Forestry Transition Program.
Despite Labor’s $1.5 billion package, Victoria has seen logging of native timber on private land and a commercialisation of disaster works with a ‘State Forest By-Products Framework’. Labor has also refused to repeal two laws that would enable a future Liberal-One Nation government to bring back commercial logging with the stroke of a pen.
Quotes attributable to Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell:
“Jacinta Allan’s Labor Government can’t claim to have ended native forest logging when they are allowing millions in government payouts to be spent logging in Tasmania. This money was supposed to be used to support workers transitioning into sustainable jobs - not to destroy our precious old forests in Tasmania and bring those logs to Victoria”
“Labor in Victoria is fuelling the destruction of our environment and our forests. The Greens will bring a Bill to Parliament to close Labor’s dodgy loopholes and protect our precious forests for good.”
-ENDS-