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21 February 2024

Local timber workers of South Coast NSW are deeply concerned about recent developments regarding timber harvesting. After reaching an agreement with NSW Forestry on increased environmental protections, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reneged on that agreement, putting jobs and communities at risk. These letters were sent to the News outlets last week to show concerns over the unfair developments.

Letter from Sharon Musson
Dear Editor,
As a local timber worker, I was alarmed to hear that after reaching an agreement with NSW Forestry on increased environmental protections to allow timber harvesting to restart on the South Coast, the EPA has now reneged on that agreement and is putting jobs at risk. As timber workers our work is already held to strict environmental standards. The work being done hasn’t changed since the EPA announced the new rules on 2 February so why have the rules changed again for these poor workers? It is a scary thought that communities like ours that rely on timber jobs could be the next ones to become captive to the same sort of fickle decision-making by a rogue regulator. We need intervention by the government to get this resolved before more towns are staring down the barrel of job losses.

Dear Editor,
as a local timber worker I was alarmed to hear that after reaching an agreement with NSW Forestry on increased environmental protections to allow timber harvesting to restart on the South Coast, the EPA has now backflipped on that deal and is putting our jobs at risk. As a timber worker, all our work is held to strict environmental rules. The work being done hasn’t changed since they announced the new rules on 2 February so why have the rules changed again? This out-of-control regulator needs to be brought into line. My workmates and I are incredibly worried about what the future might hold. The 50 or more jobs at the mill I work at might not sound like much to activist groups in the city, but in a town like Kempsey it will be incredibly hard to find other work and to be honest, we don’t want to. We are proud to produce the timber our community relies on and don’t think stopping Australian production and importing timber from offshore is a good option for jobs or the environment. We need the government to get involved and fix this devastating decision by a rogue regulator, NSW residents deserve better than having to choose between good jobs and a good environment, we can and should have both. This needs to be sorted before our town is staring down the barrel of job losses.

Read the article inspired by the letters on Magnet HERE .