Alarmed at the devastation logging of the state’s forests in northern New South Wales is having on threatened species and biodiversity, the North East Forests Alliance took court action against the agreements set to allow logging, arguing they are based on outdated environmental data. Unfortunately, the court dismissed the case which means the future of our forests is now in the hands of governments.

I joined fellow cross benchers to call on the state government to follow the lead of Victoria and Western Australia to develop a transition plan for the forestry industry.

The Black Summer fires burned through more than a million hectares of biodiverse rich forest, killing over a billion animals and hundreds of billions of insects. Koalas and greater gliders have been declared endangered. We cannot continue to destroy forests through a taxpayer subsidised industry when threatened species need remaining forests as habitat to survive and climate change demands that we protect our carbon sinks.

Taxpayer funds would be better spent transitioning communities away from native forest logging into sustainable industries like plantation timber and tourism while conserving our forests into the future.

See the Sydney Morning Herald report > HERE