Pine Creek Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuo7ZZ5NZ9A
This blog is open to any who wish to comment on Australian society, the state of the environment or political shenanigans at Federal, State and Local Government level.
Pine Creek Choir
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuo7ZZ5NZ9A
Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), March 2024 Newsletter, 29 February 2024:
Hope for NSW forests: Court decision upholds community’s right to challenge native forest logging
In the shadow of claims made by the NSW Forestry Corporation, communities have been led to believe that they have no rights to challenge decisions about industrial logging in NSW native forests or seek action over unlawful conduct when logging destroys hollow-bearing trees and critical habitat for threatened species.
But two recent court decisions have shattered those claims after EDO’s client successfully ran an argument which hasn’t previously been tested in the courts. After 20 years of resistance by the Forestry Corporation, it is now legally recognised that communities with a special interest have the right to hold the state-owned logging agency to account over its forestry operations in native forests.
NSW forests are remarkable for their diverse ecosystems, unique biodiversity and cultural significance. Encompassing semi-arid woodlands to lush rainforests, these globally recognised forests are home to an extraordinary array of plant and animal life, much of which is unique to the region.
Protecting our forests is one of the most important things we can do to manage climate change, preserve our precious biodiversity and prevent further species extinctions. Yet Forestry Corporation NSW logs around 30,000 hectares of state forest every year. Sadly, many of these forests are logged to be turned into low-value products, such as woodchips, that are exported to make cardboard and toilet paper.
Weak laws failing our forests
NSW Forestry Corporation is the state-owned logging agency that undertakes industrial logging in public native forests, including in nationally important koala habitat and areas that are still recovering from the catastrophic impacts of the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires. It is entrusted with managing two million hectares of public forests, yet in the past three years alone, Forestry Corporation has been fined 12 times for illegal logging activities. There are 21 investigations still pending. 1
Forestry Corporation operates under bilateral agreements with the Federal Government, called ‘regional forest agreements’, or RFAs, which allow logging to bypass normal federal environmental scrutiny. No other industry benefits from such an allowance. Under the current system of RFAs, threatened species such as the koala, greater glider and gang-gang cockatoo are being driven to extinction and the ecosystems and landscapes that we depend on are being destroyed at an astounding rate.
For some 20 years, Forestry Corporation has asserted that the community cannot seek to challenge its public native forestry operations. On 20 November 2023, the NSW Land and Environment Court rejected that position.
Court decision confirms community right
The EDO represented the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) in mid-2023 challenging logging approvals in Myrtle and Braemar State Forests. The forests were severely damaged by the ferocious Black Summer Bushfires, which wiped out an estimated 70 per cent of the local koala population.
While NEFA was not ultimately successful, the court confirmed for the first time that the Forestry Act does not prevent persons with a special interest from taking legal action over forestry operations in NSW, including disputing logging approvals.
This is particularly important as NSW laws explicitly attempt to reduce the community’s right to challenge Forestry Corporation conduct regarding industrial native forest logging.
Forestry Corporation also argued that the court cannot judicially review harvest and haul plans because all forestry operations had already been approved by the relevant Ministers in the overarching regulation, the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA). However, the court again rejected that position and found that such operational plans are open to challenge.
Forest groups fight on after disappointing court decision
Building on the NEFA decision, South East Forest Rescue (SEFR) then took a step further with court action in January 2024. SEFR is seeking an injunction to stop Forestry Corporation from conducting any forestry activities in certain state forests until adequate surveys for greater, yellow-bellied and squirrel gliders have been performed. SEFR is being represented by XD Law.
SEFR argued that Forestry Corporation is breaking the law by not performing adequate surveys for den trees and necessary exclusion zones around den trees are not being implemented. It is the first time in 25 years that the Forestry Corporation has been brought to court by citizens for failure to comply with native forestry regulations, in particular failure to conduct adequate surveys for gliders.
Drawing from the findings in the NEFA decision, her Honour found that persons with a special interest can also seek to enforce the conditions of the CIFOA against Forestry Corporation.
These two decisions mark a significant departure from the status quo of the past 20 years and set important precedent for the community to hold the Forestry Corporation to account over native forest logging.
President of NEFA, Dailan Pugh said regarding NEFAs legal challenge:
“While NEFA were disappointed that our legal challenge to the logging of important Koala populations in Braemar and Myrtle State Forests was not successful, it’s promising that the case did establish that NEFA have the civil right to enforce NSW’s logging rules, opening a door to litigation we thought had been shut to us since 1998.”
“We thank the EDO for the immense effort they put into this case and creating future opportunities for NEFA, and other groups, to challenge the culture of complacency around logging fostered by lack of public accountability.”
1 Register of Crown forestry investigations (nsw.gov.au)
“Put the foresters back in charge of the forests.”
Malcolm David McComb, Pentarch Group, quoted in The Monthly, November 2020
According to the 'privately-owned' Melbourne-based PENTARCH GROUP it commenced business in 1984, combining the expertise of five individuals with diverse commercial backgrounds. In the early 1990s, the group’s primary focus was on three key businesses - representing major international manufacturers of military hardware, exporting containerised hay to Japan, and exporting softwood logs to South Korea - through its Industrial, Forestry and Agricultural divisions.
By 2019 the Group was managing over 8,000ha of land - with est. 30 per cent of the defined forest area being native forest.
That year NSW Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for Forestry John Barilaro announced Pentarch Logistics Pty Ltd was receiving a $3 million grant to drive innovation and technology advancements in the NSW forestry industry.
In August 2021 the Group purchased the assets of Dormit Pty Ltd which operated two sawmills and associated operations located at Dandenong South and Swifts Creek in Victoria. That same year Boral divested its timber business to the Group in October 2021. Allen Taylor & Company, Duncan’s Holdings and their subsidiaries (collectively known as Boral Timber) now trade under the brand Pentarch Forestry. This acquisition saw Pentarch add eight sawmills, including part ownership of the Highland Pine mill at Oberon, to allegedly become the largest hardwood processor in NSW.
Pentarch Forestry exports in excess of 800,000tn per annum of plantation softwood and hardwood from Australian and New Zealand ports. This division is actively involved in forestry harvesting and haulage; port logistics including marshalling, storage and stevedoring; and international marketing and shipping.
These days its forestry division boasts that its key woodchip and logs export destinations are; China, India, Japan, Korea and the Middle East. While its sawn timbers are listed as being sourced from; Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia.
By 2022 the Pentarch Group operated 20 sites nationally with a high concentration of timber mills in NSW.
The Pentarch Group clearly states:
Timber sustainably sourced from our native forests is our most valuable and precious resource and Pentarch Forestry™ takes pride in finding ways to better use every part of that resource.
In particular Pentarch Forestry harvests Tasmanian hardwood logs from the north-west of that state and timber from native forests (including privately-owned native forest) on land around Nungatta, Mila & Delegate in NSW, as well as from Combienbar, Murrangower & Bendoc in Victoria and, apparently sees itself as helping to protect and manage a large permanent native forest estate.
[Mapping at https://pentarchforestry.com.au/sustainability-environment/sustainable-forest-management/]
The Group's milled native timber is ending up as everything from solid timber floor boards through to mass produced wooden pallets for industry and woodchips as a secondary product.
Its offices can be found at 18 different locations across five states. [See list & details at end of this post]
In its April 2022 submission to the NSW Legislative Council's INQUIRY INTO LONG TERM SUSTAINABILITY AND FUTURE OF THE TIMBER AND FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRY, Pentarch advocated for the permanent retention of multiuse State Forest. Also expressing a sense of frustration that the forestry industry had not been allowed carte blanche to clear the 2019-20 native forest fire grounds of all suitable timber. Apparently a firm believer in a forest restoration harvesting process. Leaving this reader with the suspicion that the Pentarch Group belongs to the 'lets keep the forest floor tidy' brigade.
2022 was also the year that Pentarch Forestry Pty Ltd had its Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) sustainability certification (first obtained in 2017) suspended when a renewal audit found that Pentarch’s due diligence system was out of date, regrowth native forest and plantation wood were at risk of being mixed together, and threatened species assessments were not being done.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison & Chairman Pentarch Group Malcolm McComb. IMAGE: Merimbula News Weekly, 23 June 2020 |
Despite the apparent ease of access to political decision makers large forestry corporations appear to enjoy at federal & state government level, this apparently doesn't satisfy all in the industry that their voices are the loudest.
The Pentarch Group chairman also reportedly co-founded Forest and Wood Communities Australia which has a dedicated website, a Facebook page and an X/Twitter account with the less than subtle principal aim of pushing back against so-called "environmental extremists", "ideological idiocy", criticising the Victorian Government and pressuring the NSW Minns Labor Government. The social media accounts in particular have a tendency to mislead.
The faces fronting the Pentarch Group are on display at:
http://www.pentarch.com.au/pentarch_team.html.
However, the principal corporations in this group are very careful to conceal shareholder identities - all shares in the following three registered companies are beneficially held by the companies on behalf of unnamed individuals/corporations.
Although it is not hard to imagine that the Sedger, McComb, Yuncken, Cuthbertson and Dadd families might properly feature heavily on the shareholder list - along with a discreet number of self-managed super funds, investment entities and trusts. It is also not hard to imagine that the 'hidden' nature of such shareholder lists might potentially contain conflicts of interest for state and local governments dealing with the forestry industry.
It is noted that the Minister for Climate Change, Minister for Energy, Minister for Environment and Minister for Heritage, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional NSW and Minister for Western NSW and the NSW Treasurer were meeting in 2023 with members of the forestry industry concerning what was loosely described as "forestry industry reform" and "forestry matters".
~~~~~~~~~~
PENTARCH GROUP PTY LTD
ACN: 064 165 635
ABN: 21064165635
Registered in: Victoria
Registration date: 31/03/1994
Registered address & principal place of business:
'Kings Garden Estate' Level 1, 99 Coventry Street,
SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
Directors:
MALCOLM DAVID MCCOMB (Victoria)
IAN KENNETH SEDGER (Victoria)
SIMON JOHN YUNCKEN (Victoria)
FRASER JEFFREY CUTHBERTSON (Victoria)
STEPHEN GORDON DADD (NSW)
Company Secretary:
SIMON JOHN YUNCKEN
Shares issued:
Ordinary Shares - 1,438 Fully Paid
838 Beneficially held by: TIMBER AUDITS & TECHNOLOGY PTY LTD
600 Beneficially held by: PENTARCH GROUP PTY LTD
Current roles in the following organisations:
PENTARCH PERMACULTURE & CARBON PTY LTD
ACN: 661 995 035
ABN: 98661995035
Address: Unknown
OCEAN2EARTH PTY LTD
ACN: 663 110 629
ABN: 71663110629
Address: Unknown
Current shares and interests in:
*675,000 CLASS I SHARES & 1,125,000 CLASS
N_SHARES Fully Paid
Beneficially held by: SOUTH EAST FIBRE EXPORTS PTY LTD
ACN: 000 604 795
ABN: 85000604795
Address: Unit 1, 250 Charman Road, CHELTENHAM VIC 3192
*600 Ordinary Shares Fully Paid
Beneficially held by: PENTARCH HOLDINGS PTY. LTD
ACN: 064 165 635
ABN: 21064165635
Address: Level 1, 99 Coventry Street, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
*96,000 Ordinary Shares Fully Paid
Beneficially held by: ALLIED NATURAL WOOD ENTERPRISES PTY LTD
ACN: 607 144 089
ABN: 65607144089
Address: Jews Head Edrom Road, EDEN NSW 2551
*96,000 Ordinary Shares Fully Paid
Beneficially held by: SAPPHIRE FORESTS PTY LTD
ACN: 607 256 780
ABN: 85607256780
Address: Jews Head Edrom Road, EDEN NSW 2551
*10,000 Ordinary Shares Fully Paid
Beneficially held by: ALLIED NATURAL WOOD EXPORTS (TAS) PTY LTD
ACN: 619 876 345
ABN: 23619876345
Address: Jews Head, EDROM NSW 2551
*1,000 Ordinary Shares Fully Paid
Beneficially held by: FORESTS IN PERPETUITY PTY LTD
ACN: 639 068 732
ABN: 84639068732
Address: Level 1, 99 Coventry Street, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
*73,740 Ordinary Shares Fully Paid
Beneficially held by: TIMBER AUDITS & TECHNOLOGY PTY LTD
ACN: 094 390 271
ABN: 88094390271
Address: 'Kings Garden Estate' Level 1, 99 Coventry Street, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
*10,000 Ordinary Shares Fully Paid
Beneficially held by: PENTARCH PERMACULTURE & CARBON PTY LTD
ACN: 661 995 035
ABN: 98661995035
Address: Level 1, 99 Coventry Street, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
~~~~~~~~~~
PENTARCH HOLDINGS PTY. LTD
ACN: 064 165 635
ABN: 21064165635
Registered in: Victoria
Registration date: 31/03/1994
Registered address & principal place of business:
'Kings Garden Estate' Level 1, 99 Coventry Street,
SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
Directors:
MALCOLM DAVID MCCOMB (Victoria)
IAN KENNETH SEDGER (Victoria)
SIMON JOHN YUNCKEN (Victoria)
FRASER JEFFREY CUTHBERTSON (Victoria)
STEPHEN GORDON DADD (NSW)
Company Secretary:
SIMON JOHN YUNCKEN
Shares issued:
Ordinary Shares - 1,438 Fully Paid
838 Beneficially Held by: TIMBER AUDITS & TECHNOLOGY PTY LTD
600 Beneficially Held by: PENTARCH GROUP PTY LTD
Ultimate holding company for:
PENTARCH FOREST PRODUCTS PTY LTD
ACN: 059 465 879
ABN: 57059465879
Address: Level 2, 121-123 High Street, PRAHRAN VIC 3181
ARI LEASING PTY. LTD
ACN: 072 963 798
ABN: 77072963798
Address: Unknown
PENTARCH LOGISTICS PTY LTD
ACN: 075 432 254
ABN: 99075432254
Address: Level 2, 121-123 High Street, PRAHRAN VIC 3181
PENTARCH AGRICULTURAL PTY LTD
ACN: 101 274 613
ABN: 45101274613
Address: "KINGS GARDEN ESTATE", Level 1, 99 Coventry
Street, SOUTH MELBOURNE VIC 3205
SAPPHIRE HAULAGE PTY LTD
ACN: 132 292 436
ABN: 55132292436
Address: Unknown
NARROGIN HAY PTY LTD
ACN: 104 157 593
ABN: 73104157593
Address: 'Kings Garden Estate' Level 1, 99 Coventry Street, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
PENTARCH STEVEDORING PTY LTD
ACN: 108 439 185
ABN: 53108439185
Address: 'Kings Garden Estate' Level 1, 99 Coventry Street, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
MALLEE HAY PTY LTD
ACN: 123 956 089
ABN: 78123956089
Address: 'Kings Garden Estate' Level 1, 99 Coventry Street, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
PENTARCH FARMS PTY LTD
ACN: 123 956 105
ABN: 97123956105
Address: 'Kings Garden Estate' Level 1, 99 Coventry Street, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
~~~~~~~~~~
TIMBER AUDITS & TECHNOLOGY PTY LTD
ACN: 094 390 271
ABN: 88094390271
Registered in: Victoria
Registration date: 06/09/2000
Registered address & principal place of business:
Registered address: 'Kings Garden Estate' Level 1, 99 Coventry Street, SOUTHBANK VIC 3006
Directors:
MALCOLM DAVID MCCOMB (Victoria)
IAN KENNETH SEDGER (Victoria)
SIMON JOHN YUNCKEN (Victoria)
Company Secretary:
SIMON JOHN YUNCKEN
Shares issued:
Ordinary Shares - 73,740 Fully Paid
Beneficially held by: PENTARCH GROUP PTY LTD
~~~~~~~~~~
Pentarch Group offices current as of 17.02.24:
TASMANIA
Massy Greene Drive
South Burnie, Tas, 7320
PO Box 3033
Ph: 03 6430 7333
VICTORIA
Level 1, 99 Coventry Street
Southbank, Vic, 3006
Ph: 03 9621 7900
Great Alpine Road,
Swifts Creek, Vic, 3896
Ph: 03 5159 4438
98 Indian Drive
Keysborough, Vic, 3173
Ph: 1800 818 317
96-106 Ordish Road,
Dandenong, Vic, 3175
Ph: 03 9706 5744
QUEENSLAND
838 Nudgee Road
Northgate, Qld, 4013
Ph: 1800 818 317
Suite 12 Level 1,
84 Wises Road
Maroochydore, Qld, 4558
PO Box 5561
Ph: 1800 818 317
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
176-178 Magill Road
Norwood, SA, 5067
Ph: 1800 818 317
NEW SOUTH WALES
Eden Log Export Facility
Lot 2, Edrom Road
Eden, NSW, 2551
Ph: 02 6496 0252
Eden, NSW
Eden Chip Export Terminal
Edrom Road, Jews Head
Eden, NSW, 2551
Ph: 02 6496 0222
420 Herons Creek Road
Herons Creek, NSW, 2443
Ph: 02 6585 7188
43 Mill Road
Koolkhan, NSW, 2460
PO Box 437
Ph: 02 6644 7280
13056 Summerland Way
Kyogle, NSW, 2474
PO Box 187
Ph: 02 6632 1866
148 Tweed Valley Way
Murwillumbah, NSW, 2484
PO Box 56
Ph: 02 6670 8700
6016/6018 Princess Highway
Narooma, NSW, 2546
PO Box 75
Ph: 02 4476 7908
Unit D1, Regents Park Estate
391 Park Road
Regents Park, NSW, 2143
Ph: 1800 818 317
50 BTU Road
South Nowra, NSW, 2541
PO Box 5014
Ph: 02 4447 8262
PRINCIPAL SOURCES:
In late December 2023 two matters were obvious. Firstly, even a cursory look at Forestry Corporation of NSW's collection of penalty notices, warnings and secondly adverse judgments indicated the list was growing longer [see Background] and secondly, its corporate business losses remained a drain on the NSW state treasury with annual financial statement showing est. $15 million loss on native hardwood timber operations in 2022-23, following est. $9 million loss in 2021-22 and est. &19.1 million loss in 2020-21 [based on Forestry NSW annual reports].
Something had to give and the NSW Government has obviously decided it wasn't going to be the logging practices of Forestry NSW.
I rather suspect (bearing in mind Coastal IFOA conditions can only be amended jointly by the Minister for the Environment and the Minister for Agriculture) that both the Premier and the timber industry may have decided that the current Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional NSW and Minister for Western NSW was the politician to target - 2023 being her first time in any ministerial position and her previous five shadow portfolios since May 2019 having nothing to do with either agriculture or forestry and little to do with regional NSW.
In the second half of 2023 this minister was directly involved in nine meeting concerning "forestry matters".
• MEETING NUMBER ONE 20.07.23: Minister Moriaty & Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation, University of Melbourne Business School, Australian Workers’ Union, CFMEU Manufacturing Division, Treasurer Mookhey, [Environment] Minister Sharpe re "Forestry matters".
After that in no particular occurrence order, meeting parties were:
• Minister Moriaty & CFMEU;
• Minister Moriaty & ForestWorks;
• Minister Moriaty & Australian Forest Products Association;
• Minister Moriaty & M&M Timbers, Greensill Bros, Mark Banasiak MLC [Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party];
• Minister Moriaty & Australian Forest Products Association, The Pentarch Group;
• Minister Moriaty & E Fitzpatrick & T Lions, Fitzpatrick and Co, Client – Timber NSW;
• Minister Moriaty & Pentarch Group, Dr Michael Holland MP [ALP]
• Minister Moriaty & South Coast Timbers, Dr Michael Holland MP [ALP].
Whereas the Minister for Climate Change, Minister for Energy, Minister for Environment and Minister for Heritage's meeting schedule for the same period shows a more limited interest in forestry issues and one suspects that she may have passed the buck after that 20 July 2023 meeting.
This ministerial sharing arrangement appears to indicate the city-centric Minns Labor Government is holding fast to the fallacies surrounding its native timber industry as Forestry Corporation NSW losses mount and the timber industry lobby groups become a persistent earworm.
It is noted that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as part of the NSW Government Planning and Environment Cluster sitting in the portfolio of the Minister for Environment and Heritage, did not have a seat at the table during any of these meetings and yet it appears to have been the vehicle used to introduce further reductions in levels of protection for native wildlife in state forests.
Sadly, the following media releases demonstrate why and how, what native hardwood forests remain within state forests are about to become the government-endorsed playground of an out-of-control Forestry Corporation NSW.
NSW EPA, media release, 2 February 2024:
New protections for endangered southern greater gliders
02 February 2024
Endangered Southern Greater Gliders across the east coast of NSW will be better protected under NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) amendments to forestry rules that will protect more hollow-bearing trees in operations where gliders are present.
From 9 February, changes to the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA) protocols will come into effect, requiring Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) to meet new protection requirements for southern greater gliders.
EPA Chief Executive Officer, Tony Chappel said the change was a significant step-forward in the long-term protection of gliders as well as other native animals reliant on hollow-bearing trees such as possums, owls and parrots.
“This change means that instead of depending on unreliable point in time surveys to find the habitat of the gliders, we will assume the species is present and conserve their habitat,” Mr Chappel said.
“This ensures the critical habitats of some of our most endangered and much-loved native animals are protected.
“We have reviewed extensive research, sought expert views and believe this change strikes the right balance, resulting in significant ecological and regulatory improvement to the current arrangements.
“We have also consulted FCNSW to ensure any potential timber supply impacts are known and managed.
“If non-compliances with these new conditions are found, the EPA will not hesitate to take appropriate regulatory action to ensure greater gliders are being protected in forestry operations.”
The changes can be found on the EPA website here
The new CIFOA requirements include:
A 50-metre exclusion zone around known recorded locations of greater glider dens.
Protection of extra greater glider trees in addition to existing hollow bearing and giant tree requirements:
*Six trees per hectare greater than 80cm in diameter in high greater glider density areas, in addition to the eight hollow bearing trees currently required to be protected.
*Four trees per hectare greater than 50cm in diameter in lower density areas, in addition to the eight hollow bearing trees currently required to be protected.
*The retention of additional hollows and future hollow-bearing trees in areas where greater gliders are less likely to occur.
Greater glider trees must prioritise hollows (especially ones with evidence of use) where they exist.
Undertaking of a monitoring program to ensure the ongoing effectiveness of these new rules for greater gliders.
A new map that shows where these different greater glider areas occur.
World Wildlife Fund Australia, news release, 2 February 2024:
Conservation groups outraged; scientists not consulted
The NSW Environment Protection Authority will no longer require Forestry Corp to search for and identify the den trees of endangered greater gliders before logging operations.
Instead Forestry Corp will be required to protect just six extra trees per hectare, greater than 80cm, in addition to the existing requirement to protect eight hollow-bearing trees.
“I’m shocked, this is a huge step backwards. Decisions like this will hurtle this species much more rapidly towards extinction. The EPA executive is abdicating its responsibility to protect threatened species,” said Dr Kita Ashman, Threatened Species & Climate Adaptation Ecologist, WWF Australia.
The issue of greater glider den trees came to a head when Forestry Corp bulldozed thousands of trees in Tallaganda State Forest, one of the last greater glider strongholds.
Last August the EPA launched an investigation saying it had no confidence Forestry Corp had properly searched for den trees and protected them with 50 metre exclusion zones, as the government-owned corporation was required to do.
Now the EPA has removed the requirement that Forestry Corp search for den trees.
“Eminent greater glider scientists were not consulted about these changes. We need a fundamental shift in how forests are managed if greater gliders are to survive. The EPA needs to take leadership and improve forestry rules to better protect greater gliders and all threatened species,” said Wilderness Australia Operations Manager Andrew Wong.
“Known greater glider den trees will still be protected with exclusion zones. But who’s going to identify them if there’s no requirement for Forestry Corp to do it. That job will be left to citizen scientists but it’s unclear whether they’ll be legally able to access logging areas before they’re bulldozed. This is a complete mess,” said South East Forest Rescue Coordinator Scott Daines.
[my yellow highlighting]
09 February 2024
The commencement of the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA) protocol and the site-specific biodiversity condition for greater gliders will be postponed by a week.
Last week, we announced changes to the protocol which will have an important role in protecting hollow bearing trees.
We have been consulting with stakeholders and considering their feedback to ensure we find the most appropriate way to address concerns while achieving long-term protections for this endangered species.
Existing requirements remain in force during this period and we will not hesitate to take regulatory action, including stop work orders, where we think there will be non-compliance.
Until the protocol and site-specific biodiversity conditions are finalised, we will treat all glider habitat forests as high risk.
We want to thank all stakeholders for working with us as we refine these changes.
BACKGROUND
A brief look at the history of Forestry NSW warnings, penalties.........
NSW Environmental Protection Agency (NSWEPA), media release, 22 December 2023:
Forestry Corporation ordered to pay $104,000
22 December 2023
Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCNSW) is required to pay more than $100,000 after illegally felling hollow bearing trees in Mogo State Forest on the South Coast in March 2020.
The sentence was handed down after FCNSW challenged one of three $15,000 penalty infringement notices issued by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA), for breaching site-specific operating conditions following the damaging 2019/20 black summer bushfires.
Under these conditions, FCNSW was required to permanently retain all hollow-bearing trees to prevent the loss of habitat for hollow-dependent species.
Following the challenge, FCNSW was found guilty of the offence under the Forestry Act 2012 in Bega Local Court in November 2023. The Magistrate was satisfied all four trees had visible hollows before they were cut down.
The sentence was delivered in Batemans Bay Local Court yesterday, convicting FCNSW and ordering them to pay a fine of $20,000 and $84,340 to the EPA as legal costs.
EPA Executive Director of Regulatory Operations Jason Gordon welcomed the sentence and said the court’s decision supports the EPA’s position that the visibility of tree hollows must be assessed broadly, and requires scrutiny from several different angles.
“All hollow-bearing trees, living or dead, are important because they provide vital habitat for endangered and native species,” Mr Gordon said.
“They can take decades to naturally form and provide a necessary refuge for animals from the weather and predators, as well as safe sites for roosting and breeding.
“Any decrease in the availability and variety of tree hollows can lead to a significant loss of species diversity and abundance.
“This outcome is a great result for the EPA and signifies the care needed when conducting forestry operations to comply with conditions and ensure homes for our wildlife are protected.”
In sentencing, the Magistrate said there’s no reason for a casual approach to environmental protection and the community views environmental offences as extremely serious.
The Magistrate required FCNSW to publicise the offence and the orders made against it in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Bay Post/ Moruya Examiner which would send a clear message of deterrence.
A partial list of Forestry Corporation NSW ( FCNSW) penalty notices and prosecutions July 2018 to June 2022:
Jun 2022 — EPA fines FCNSW — $15,000 for allegedly failing to comply with post-fire conditions South Brooman State Forest.
Jun 2022 — EPA prosecutes FCNSW for alleged breaches of post-fire conditions at Yambulla State Forest, near Eden after the 2019/20 bushfires.
Jun 2022 — EPA prosecutes FCNSW — $135,600 + 150,000 in legal costs — fines and costs totalling $285,600 have been levelled against FCNSW after the Land and Environment Court found tree felling in exclusion zones had done “actual harm” to koala habitat — Wild Cattle Creek State Forest on Dorrigo Plateau.
Apr 2022 — EPA penalty infrigement notice to FCNSW — $45,000 — felling hollow bearing trees across three areas — Mogo State Forest
Feb 2021 — EPA penalty infrigement notice to FCNSW — $15,000 — failed to mark a riparian exclusion zone boundary, contrary to the requirements of the Integrated Forestry Operations Approval held by FCNSW — Olney State Forest
Feb 2021 — EPA issued two penalty notices and one official caution to FCNSW — $30,000 — inspections of the area following a harvesting operation identified 10 freshly cut mature trees within the hard and soft protection zones of a second order stream; a significant amount of debris pushed into a stream bed; and evidence of machine access, and earthworks caused by harvesting machinery within a protected zone — Ballengarra State Forest
Mar 2021 — EPA two penalty notices three official cautions — $33,000 — notices: for allegedly not including the critically endangered Swift Parrot records in planning for operations, and cautions: an alleged failure by FCNSW to mark-up eucalypt feed trees, an essential source of food for the birds, prior to harvesting — Boyne, Bodalla and Mogo state forests
Apr 2020 — EPA penalty notice — $31,100 — three alleged offences — state forests Tantawangalo (not marking an adequate number of trees for retention and not marking the boundary of an environmentally sensitive area as an exclusion zone, required to protect the habitat of the Powerful Owl) and Bago (not marking an adequate number of habitat trees that needed to be retained).
Apr 2019 — $16,500 — failed to implement the required protections for the rare threatened plant despite knowing of its location — Gibberagee State Forest
July 2018 — $30,000 — breaching their environment protection licence and causing water pollution — Gladstone State Forest
Hi! My name is Boy. I'm a male bi-coloured tabby cat. Ever since I discovered that Malcolm Turnbull's dogs were allowed to blog, I have been pestering Clarencegirl to allow me a small space on North Coast Voices.
A false flag musing: I have noticed one particular voice on Facebook which is Pollyanna-positive on the subject of the Port of Yamba becoming a designated cruise ship destination. What this gentleman doesn’t disclose is that, as a principal of Middle Star Pty Ltd, he could be thought to have a potential pecuniary interest due to the fact that this corporation (which has had an office in Grafton since 2012) provides consultancy services and tourism business development services.
A religion & local government musing: On 11 October 2017 Clarence Valley Council has the Church of Jesus Christ Development Fund Inc in Sutherland Local Court No. 6 for a small claims hearing. It would appear that there may be a little issue in rendering unto Caesar. On 19 September 2017 an ordained minister of a religion (which was named by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in relation to 40 instances of historical child sexual abuse on the NSW North Coast) read the Opening Prayer at Council’s ordinary monthly meeting. Earlier in the year an ordained minister (from a church network alleged to have supported an overseas orphanage closed because of child abuse claims in 2013) read the Opening Prayer and an ordained minister (belonging to yet another church network accused of ignoring child sexual abuse in the US and racism in South Africa) read the Opening Prayer at yet another ordinary monthly meeting. Nice one councillors - you are covering yourselves with glory!
An investigative musing: Newcastle Herald, 12 August 2017: The state’s corruption watchdog has been asked to investigate the finances of the Awabakal Aboriginal Local Land Council, less than 12 months after the troubled organisation was placed into administration by the state government. The Newcastle Herald understands accounting firm PKF Lawler made the decision to refer the land council to the Independent Commission Against Corruption after discovering a number of irregularities during an audit of its financial statements. The results of the audit were recently presented to a meeting of Awabakal members. Administrator Terry Lawler did not respond when contacted by the Herald and a PKF Lawler spokesperson said it was unable to comment on the matter. Given the intricate web of company relationships that existed with at least one former board member it is not outside the realms of possibility that, if ICAC accepts this referral, then United Land Councils Limited (registered New Zealand) and United First Peoples Syndications Pty Ltd(registered Australia) might be interviewed. North Coast Voices readers will remember that on 15 August 2015 representatives of these two companied gave evidence before NSW Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committee No. 6 INQUIRY INTO CROWN LAND. This evidence included advocating for a Yamba mega port.
A Nationals musing: Word around the traps is that NSW Nats MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis has been talking up the notion of cruise ships visiting the Clarence River estuary. Fair dinkum! That man can be guaranteed to run with any bad idea put to him. I'm sure one or more cruise ships moored in the main navigation channel on a regular basis for one, two or three days is something other regular river users will really welcome. *pause for appreciation of irony* The draft of the smallest of the smaller cruise vessels is 3 metres and it would only stay safely afloat in that channel. Even the Yamba-Iluka ferry has been known to get momentarily stuck in silt/sand from time to time in Yamba Bay and even a very small cruise ship wouldn't be able to safely enter and exit Iluka Bay. You can bet your bottom dollar operators of cruise lines would soon be calling for dredging at the approach to the river mouth - and you know how well that goes down with the local residents.
A local councils musing: Which Northern Rivers council is on a low-key NSW Office of Local Government watch list courtesy of feet dragging by a past general manager?
A serial pest musing: I'm sure the Clarence Valley was thrilled to find that a well-known fantasist is active once again in the wee small hours of the morning treading a well-worn path of accusations involving police, local business owners and others.
An investigative musing: Which NSW North Coast council is batting to have the longest running code of conduct complaint investigation on record?
A fun fact musing: An estimated 24,000 whales migrated along the NSW coastline in 2016 according to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the migration period is getting longer.
A which bank? musing: Despite a net profit last year of $9,227 million the Commonwealth Bank still insists on paying below Centrelink deeming rates interest on money held in Pensioner Security Accounts. One local wag says he’s waiting for the first bill from the bank charging him for the privilege of keeping his pension dollars at that bank.
A Daily Examiner musing: Just when you thought this newspaper could sink no lower under News Corp management, it continues to give column space to Andrew Bolt.
A thought to ponder musing: In case of bushfire or flood - do you have an emergency evacuation plan for the family pet?
An adoption musing: Every week on the NSW North Coast a number of cats and dogs find themselves without a home. If you want to do your bit and give one bundle of joy a new family, contact Happy Paws on 0419 404 766 or your local council pound.