Last week marked a turning point for Australia's broken national environmental laws.
More than five years after Professor Graeme Samuel handed down his independent review into our nation's 25-year-old environmental laws, the Albanese Labor Government's Environment Protection Reform Bill passed the Parliament.
Our reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act protect the environment for future generations while also delivering for business and the community.
The laws will help speed up decision-making with faster yes's and faster no's for housing and renewable energy projects, which we know are so critical in Tasmania.
The changes to the EPBC Act that passed the Federal Parliament will also deliver on our Government's long standing commitment to apply new national environmental standards to the Regional Forest Agreements.
I know the forestry industry in Tasmania prides itself on already upholding very high sustainability standards, and these changes provide an opportunity to reinforce the industry's strong environmental credentials.
The changes do not mean the end of native forestry in Tasmania, or the end of Regional Forest Agreements. It simply means that the new national environment standards will be applied consistently across all industries, including the forestry industry.
Our Government will be working closely with industry, unions and the Tasmanian Government to support the ongoing growth of Tasmania's forestry industry and the secure jobs it supports.
And earlier this week I hosted a briefing with Minister Watt in Launceston to update industry and workers on this process.
Our Government has already delivered a $300 million record investment to back Australia's forestry industry, because we know the critical contribution forestry makes in Tasmania and across the country.
Through this investment we are helping to grow plantations, modernise manufacturing infrastructure, deliver forestry research and data, and upskill the industry workforce.
We are proud of the progress achieved under this investment, and we are committed to building on it.
That's why we have designated forestry as a priority industry under our Future Made in Australia agenda.
We will continue working with the sector to identify different opportunities for investment under both the Net Zero Transformation Stream and the Economic Resilience Stream.
We are also continuing to back the future of the industry with a new $300 million Forestry Growth Fund.
This Fund will invest in the new equipment and facilities that are key to enabling industry modernisation and advanced processing.
It will also invest in training for the forestry workforce, engineered and wood products innovation, and support housing and construction supply chains.
This additional funding, which will be delivered through the National Reconstruction Fund and industry growth grants, will build on our previous $300 million investment and deliver a bigger forestry industry that supports more secure jobs, better pay and higher-value output.
We will be working with industry, workers and state governments, including the Tasmanian Government, to design this package to ensure that it is targeted to grow the forestry industry.
Together, this work and the new investments we have committed to will help deliver the landmark Timber Fibre Strategy, developed by industry with support from the Government.
The Strategy identifies opportunities for the industry to make a greater contribution to achieving national goals, particularly improving carbon and housing construction outcomes.
The Strategy also highlights the need to encourage innovation and investment across the sector to build prosperous and strong communities and regions.
This is the positive vision that our world-class forestry industry deserves - not a return to the division and ideology that has hurt communities and workers in the past.
The future is full of opportunities for Tasmania's forestry industry, and people across our state can be assured that the Albanese Labor Government will keep backing it, and local workers to grow and succeed.
Originally published in The Mercury on Friday, 5 December 2025.
