Victoria's timber towns are grieving as the state's native logging industry officially shuts down on January 1.
Key points:
- Some contractors have already begun transitioning to alternative industries
- Towns like Orbost, which is largely made up of timber workers, face an uncertain future
- But environmental groups say it's a major step in protecting the state's endangered species
For many people who have worked in the industry, the date is merely a formality, as some sawmills and harvesters stopped operating months ago.
But Warren Fenner, who lives in Orbost in East Gippsland and operates out of Club Terrace, has worked in the industry his whole life, along with multiple generations of his family.
He said Monday was the end of an era.
"I worked very hard to get my business to where it is now, and I wanted to build that for my family," Mr Fenner said.
"Now we've got to take another path, we've got to start again."
Supreme Court orders in November 2022 limited the area available for logging and expanded protected areas after it found the state-owned logging agency VicForests failed to adequately protect the yellow-bellied glider and the endangered greater glider in Victoria.
Last May, the Victorian government brought forward the ban on native timber harvesting in state forests from 2030 to January 1, 2024.
A ban on native logging comes into force on Monday in Western Australia, and other states are watching on closely.
Transitioning from timber
After Victoria's ban was announced, Mr Fenner was forced to make half his staff redundant and consider options for transitioning his business, WJ Fenner Logging, away from timber harvesting, as the court orders drastically reduced his capacity to run his operations.
"One [of my former employees] went to Tasmania, one went to Singleton as a heavy haulage driver, one went to Bendigo to work in civil construction, and the rest just haven't got any work," he said.
"We're still stranded with our large equipment to do native hardwood logging, and we've started to pursue a pathway forward in vegetation management."
But Mr Fenner is concerned working in vegetation management could be short-lived.
"I'm worried that the same regulations and rules that stopped us from being in the hardwood timber industry could possibly stop the government being able to do any vegetation management," he said.
Timber towns concerned
The Victorian government has established a Forestry Transition Program to support businesses, workers and communities to transition out of native timber.
The program offers payouts to businesses to fund redundancy payments, financial support to businesses and workers, and contracts with the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action for harvesters to manage forests and prepare them for bushfires, among other packages.
But in Orbost, which is largely made up of timber workers, locals are concerned for the town's future as many workers may have to move away for new job opportunities.
Orbost Chamber of Commerce secretary Garry Squires said the timber industry constituted about a quarter of the town's full-time jobs.
"So that's very significant … it's over 100 jobs impacted directly, and then there's the flow on effects," he said.
"That has a big impact on our sporting clubs, on our schools, on our main street and its traders."
Mr Squires said the industry's closure would likely change the demographic of Orbost and the town would need to adjust to create new industries.
"A lot of people are going to have to either leave permanently or [get] fly in fly out type jobs," he said.
"There'll be a change in the type of business, perhaps a little bit more reliance on tourism and hopefully we can develop some other small craft industries."
Protecting the environment
Environmental groups insist the industry's closure is the right move for the future after decades of campaigning to end logging.
Environmental Justice Australia special counsel and environmental lead Danya Jacobs said the move was a step in the right direction, but more needed to be done to protect endangered species.
"The best way to help the extinction crisis is to securely protect the habitat of endangered species in national parks," she said.
"We're not there yet but this will bring about the end of native forest logging, which is one of the biggest threats to our endangered species in Victoria."
Ms Jacobs said she was concerned that native forest logging could continue under another name, rebranded as disaster or bushfire management and salvage operations.
"We're calling on the government to close these loopholes to ensure that disaster logging does not continue and take the place of native forest logging."