- Crisafulli Government has delivered a 25-year plan to secure the timber needed for one million homes by 2044.
- Plan provides certainty for forestry and timber industry and secures jobs for regional communities.
- Developed in collaboration with key industry leaders from the timber, primary production, building, and forestry sectors.
- The Crisafulli Government is delivering a plan for Queensland's future and a fresh start for Queensland.
The Crisafulli Government has delivered a landmark 25-year plan for Queensland's timber and forestry industry to secure a sustainable local timber supply to meet its plan for one million homes by 2044.
The Queensland Future Timber Plan ends a decade of uncertainty and lack of direction for the forestry and timber industry under the former Labor Government, by securing the future and paving a way forward for the sector.
The bold whole-of-supply-chain plan has been developed in collaboration with industry and with extensive public consultation, and focuses on five main areas: supply, supply chain and market, regulatory framework, workforce and research, development and extension.
The Queensland Future Timber Plan will grow Queensland's plantation estate by 25,000 hectares by 2050, forest management systems will be modernised, and existing plantation and native forest resources maintained to secure and grow sustainable timber resources for immediate and long-term housing and infrastructure demands.
Sustainable and environmentally responsible selective harvesting of native hardwood will continue in State-owned and privately owned native forests.
The Plan delivers on a key election commitment for a fresh start for Queensland and sits under the Government's Primary Industries Prosper 2050.
The Crisafulli Government's blueprint for Queensland's primary industries will drive sustainable growth to help reach an ambitious target to boost primary industries production to $30 billion by 2030.
Former Labor Governments took an axe to the state's forestry over decades with rushed, ill conceived, ideologically driven programs and hollow unfunded promises.
Primary Industries Minister Tony Perrett said the Crisafulli Government had delivered a plan to secure the timber needed for Queensland's future, exactly as promised.
"The Queensland Future Timber Plan will help rebuild Queensland's forestry and timber industry to build more homes for Queenslanders," Minister Perrett said.
"We've delivered in 12 months what the Labor party failed to deliver for decades, a plan for the future of Queensland's timber and forestry sector that will secure the timber needed for one million homes by 2044.
"This plan provides certainty to industry, especially to the native hardwood industry which had been forced into poorly designed, underperforming, and failed programs under successive former Labor Governments.
"In stark contrast, Labor's hollow promise for a two-year plan, was never delivered.
"Labor made unfunded commitments that they never sought to deliver and completely eroded the capacity of Queensland's timber industry during their decade of decline.
"The Crisafulli Government's Queensland Future Timber Plan delivers certainty and uninterrupted supply with new sales permits to be issued in 2026 for State-owned native hardwood supply in forests outside the southeast corner.
"Growing our plantation timber supply is a key element of this plan which is why we have set a goal of growing plantation resources by 25,000 hectares by 2050.
"Timber is the ultimate renewable and sustainable resource; it captures and stores carbon, and it requires less energy and carbon emissions than materials like concrete and metal.
"I want to acknowledge industry leaders from the timber, primary production, building and forestry sectors for collaborating on the plan and the broader community who took part in our open public consultation process.
More than 1,350,000 were reached through consultation, with more than 350 people directly engaged. Over 550 ideas were gathered and will be used to generate the initial 5-year action plan to ensure Queensland's most valued renewable resource is sustained as an enduring asset for future generations.
Under the plan there will be no reintroduction of native timber harvesting from state-owned native forests within the South East Queensland Regional Plan area.
Minister for the Environment and Tourism Andrew Powell said the Queensland Future Timber Plan was delivering a fresh start for Queensland's Future.
"This is a great outcome for conservation and for outdoor tourism and recreation," said Minister Powell.
"It delivers a framework that keeps our forests productive, adds to Queensland's protected area estate, and opens up opportunities for ecotourism including in forests such as Deongwar."
