Sydney – Let’s talk about a pathway out of native forest logging – we can’t afford not to.

The end of native forest logging is underway in Australia. Western Australia and Victoria closed their native forest industries, and New South Wales should be on the same path.

Dr Sophie Scamps MP is the independent Member for Mackellar who launched The Forest Pledge initiative, which has built momentum in the national campaign to end native forest logging.

Numerous high-profile signatories have supported the vision to “become a world leader in protecting and restoring forests to protect wildlife, store carbon and adapt to climate change. Ending native forest logging would also help us meet our climate and nature commitments under the Paris Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework.”

However, New South Wales continues to delay the inevitable end to an industry that is a relatively small employer, subsidised by the taxpayer, and one that causes climate change and habitat loss.

Stephen Long’s video report for the Australia Institute investigated why the NSW Government continues logging valuable koala habitat despite promising to protect the same area within the boundaries of the proposed Great Koala National Park. His report highlighted the revelation that the Minns Government is delaying the protection of koala habitat in NSW until a system is in place to exploit native forests for carbon offsets.

Australia is one of the richest countries in the world. If we prioritise protecting our native forests, we can afford to restore them without relying on ineffective and unnecessary carbon credits or other market mechanisms. 

Speakers:

• Dr Sophie Scamps MP is the Independent Member of the Federal electorate of Mackellar. Sophie made history at the 2022 election by becoming the first Independent to win the Northern Beaches seat since it was first formed in 1949. Sophie won the seat after promising a new way of doing politics, putting the community first and campaigning on a platform of climate action, integrity, health and equality. Before deciding to stand as an Independent in the 2022 election, Sophie was a practising GP in Narrabeen. She also served the community as a doctor in the Emergency Department of Mona Vale Hospital. Whilst studying medicine at the University of Sydney and then Oxford University in the UK, Sophie was an elite athlete. Sophie is also the sponsor of the Forest Pledge, an initiative that brings together politicians, scientists and civil society groups who want to end native forest logging throughout Australia.
• Stephen Long is Senior Fellow and Contributing Editor at the Australia Institute. Stephen is a highly acclaimed journalist, renowned for his forensic investigative reporting, analysis and commentary. During a long career he worked as a senior reporter on the ABC’s flagship investigative journalism program, Four Corners, as economics correspondent and national finance correspondent, filing across nearly all ABC outlets. He also worked as a senior reporter and columnist at The Australian Financial Review covering industrial relations and labour markets and as a reporter on the Sydney Morning Herald. Stephen is a Walkley Award winner, a winner of the Citigroup Award for Economic and Financial Journalism and the Commonwealth Media Award. He studied political economy and history at the University of Sydney.
• Vanessa Bleyer is the Australia Institute spokesperson for Native Forests and the Director and Principal Lawyer at Bleyer Lawyers. She has a long history operating at the interface between our forests and the law. She was President of Lawyers for Forests Inc from 2003-2007 and returned as a committee member in 2021. She has twice been awarded the Law Institute of Victoria’s President’s Award for providing Access to Justice for our native forests and the species that depend on them. She was Chairperson of Environment Tasmania Inc from 2012 to 2015, and in 2022, she became a board member of Landcare Tasmania.