Tasmania's Forestry Company Corrects Parliamentary Statement on Log Processing

Tasmania's public native forestry company has corrected the record in a parliamentary committee after earlier stating that all logs from public native forests were processed in Tasmania.

Tasmanian sawmill operator James Neville-Smith confirmed to ABC Four Corners that some logs had been sent to Victoria, where processors had received compensation from the Victorian government as part of its industry shutdown.

Mr Neville-Smith said the decision was due to retooling a sawmill to be plantation-only, meaning that hardwood logs needed to be processed elsewhere.

Logs displaying stickers from Tasmanian state forests were also spotted at a mill in Powelltown, in the Yarra Valley, that was also a recipient of millions in Victorian compensation payments.

Victoria phased out native forest logging in 2024. Since then, environmental groups have raised concerns about large quantities of logs being transported to Victoria on the Spirit of Tasmania, but were told that all were from private forests.

On Saturday, state-owned Sustainable Timber Tasmania (STT) chief executive officer Dean Kearney wrote to a government business scrutiny committee to update an answer given in parliament in November.

"STT's acting chief executive officer advised that all sawlogs delivered by STT to its customers were processed in Tasmania."

"That advice was understood to be correct at the time, and it was provided in good faith."

"STT was not informed of these arrangements at the time."

Contracts with sawmillers did not include an explicit requirement for logs to be processed in Tasmania.

It will be included in contracts under negotiation to cover 2027 to 2040.

STT says these contracts have been "substantially completed" and will reflect the "increasing role of Tasmania's maturing plantation resource".

MP disappointed logs onsold interstate

In an interview with Four Corners, Resources Minister Felix Ellis said all logs from public forests were provided to mills in Tasmania.

He was later made aware that some were being onsold to interstate processors.

Mr Ellis described that as "disappointing".

STT was questioned in 2023 about the potential for whole logs to be sent to Victoria once its native logging industry ended and compensation payments started for its sawmills.

STT was aware at the time that some of its customers had sold logs in the past, and had "made it very clear" that it wanted to see all logs processed in Tasmania.

Tasmanian sawmill operator Matthew Torenius said the $9 million in compensation for the Powelltown sawmill "would get you a lot of logs".

"I would like to think that everything is being done to try to get those logs being processed in Tasmania," he said.

Labor 'assured' timber came from private forests

Labor and the Greens say they have asked the government multiple times in parliament about whether whole logs from public forests were being sent to Victoria.

Labor resources spokesperson Shane Broad said an explanation was needed.

"We've asked questions in parliament on several occasions whether timber seen leaving the state on the Spirits has come from state forests, and we have been repeatedly assured by the minister and Sustainable Timber Tasmania that it was all from private forest estates," Mr Broad said.

"Now STT has confirmed timber has been processed interstate, the minister has some serious explaining to do — particularly relating to what checks and audits were undertaken before those assurances were given."

The Victorian Greens plan to introduce a bill to prevent Victorian mills from processing native timber from anywhere in Australia.

Tasmanian Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said the community was right to be concerned about the volume of logs leaving the state.

"When the Greens, when members of the community have asked question after question for years and years now, we've been shut down and belittled for asking it," Dr Woodruff said.