In the Spirit of Christmas

It’s about now that we all start thinking about what we might give our family and friends for Christmas. Christmas, the word, originates from the phrase “Cristes Maesse”, first recorded in 1038 and meaning the Mass of Christ. And while it is ‘the annual commemoration by Christians of the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25’, it has evolved into a day of secular celebrations when gifts and greetings are exchanged. It is a time when our religious differences are set aside and communities, at least in Western countries, come together and enjoy some giving, and receiving.

It is far beyond most of us (certainly me) to walk through the global issues concerning and affecting us in December 2023. In a selfish way I want to concentrate on local issues that affect our Timber Industry. The Victorian Government’s proposal to lock up our native hardwood forests is a decision that is selfish, not at all community minded, and ignores the environmental benefits of timber as a building material. Our native timber forests belong to all Victorians, so at this moment of ‘giving’, in the presence and spirit of Christmas, I include a letter sent to our Victorian Premier and signed by a collective supply chain of 50 involved industry organisations, including Bowens. The Timber Industry is pleading for some common sense to prevail – Victoria is blessed with over 7.6 million hectares of native forest. A vast estate, yet only 0.04% is harvested annually for the timber products consumers demand – to put this in clear perspective, this is equivalent to only 4 trees out of 10,000 being harvested annually, with NO old growth being harvested at all.

“The Victorian Government’s proposal to lock up our native hardwood forests is a decision that is selfish, not at all community-minded.”

The following letter was sent to the Hon. Jacinta Allan MP in mid-November.

“Dear Premier Allan,

We, the countersigned supply chain organisations, write to you on behalf of our 40,000 voting members. We represent these industries and share the collective significant concerns about the decision of the Victorian Government to bring forward the closure of Victorian native forests for the harvest and production for timber products from 2030 to 1 January 2024.

We believe there are better options and request a meeting to explore this with you.

Our view is that you, personally, understand the importance and value of the Victorian native forest industry due to your strong regional representation and personal connections. However, your Government must be better informed about the unintended consequences of this decision, and we request this urgent meeting to discuss the options.

The timber industry supplies products which Victorians want, and need, including furniture, flooring, decking, cladding, staircases, architectural joinery, mouldings, and high-strength structural beams – and is the economic, environmental, and societal foundation of countless Victorian families, communities and businesses based regionally, and with an extended supply chain that spans Victoria’s regional towns, cities, and the commercial and industrial areas of Greater Melbourne.

Government must manage and lead for all Victorians and its decisions must be justifiable to the voting public. Policy decisions should be clearly grounded in robust science and consider and balance social, economic, cultural (Traditional Owner), and environmental values.

We are of the view that the previous Andrews Government’s decision has several direct and perverse unintended consequences which include:

Loss of jobs for regional, and city workers – negatively impacting families. • Flow on impacts to regional communities – the creation of 11 new welfare towns.

Loss of skilled firefighters and firefighting plant – experience saves lives.

Increased imports of hardwood furniture treated with toxic chemicals – putting Victorian consumers and home firefighters at unacceptable and preventable risk.

Increased imports of tropical rainforest timber for flooring, cladding, decking type products – from countries with far less environmental regulation and oversight.

Increases in consumer construction costs due to imported replacement materials and manufactured goods – making local construction even less affordable.

Loss of local firewood supply (a carbon neutral fuel) – across the community on lower income families and the elderly.

Loss of critical seed collection – for regeneration after wildfire, and more.

These unintended consequences could be prevented by the Victorian Government. As a collective supply chain, we are offering our expertise to work with your government to find agreed solutions, that deliver important benefits and wider community needs including – forest health and resilience, reduced wildfire risk, greater biodiversity and wildlife protection outcomes, and also sustainable, renewable, local and independently certified Victorian hardwood products.

These values are not mutually exclusive, they are in fact the cornerstone of scientifically robust active forest management. Victorians can have their forests and biodiversity and a productive timber industry too.

We seek confirmation of a meeting date with you before 30 November 2023. A small delegation of the collective supply chain partners is ready to discuss this important matter further and to find an inclusive solution for the whole Victorian community. We will contact your office to arrange a meeting.

We look forward to your response.”

No response to date (28/11/23) – may have to accept that to retain even our 0.04% accessibility is asking too much. As the word ‘Christmas’ is being erased from our vocabulary, common sense is also playing no part in most government decisions of 2023. My local Council (Stonnington) cut right back on the use of the word Christmas to describe this traditional time of the year. I sort of understand, but I’m sad.

However I am going to wish all our staff, customers, suppliers and friends a very happy Christmas for 2023! I thank you for supporting Bowens/Timbertruss so well throughout the year and I hope you stay safe and healthy through the summer months and beyond!

Cheers,

Jack