The North East Forest Alliance accuses the AWU of unfounded scaremongering with their claims of 9,000 job losses if the Great Koala National Park is created, as NEFA’s assessment identifies only 118 to 218 industry jobs in north east NSW will be directly affected by creation of the park.

See NEFA’s The Impact of the Creation of the Great Koala National Park on Logging Industry Employment in North East NSW for details

In a press release the Australian Workers Union (13/2/25) claim:

Over 9000 jobs will go in the hardwood industry if the ‘Great Koala National Park’ is imposed on north coast communities

The AWU apparently rely upon an industry report based solely upon unverified industry data, that applies to the whole of NSW, with most of the timber coming from private lands and plantations, said NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh.

“The AWU claims are baseless scaremongering.

“A review by NEFA  identifies that direct job losses from the creation of the Great Koala National Park could be in the order of 118 to 218 jobs within the North East NSW region from Gosford to the Queensland Border, with a similar number of indirect jobs.

“This is a small price to pay to stop the degradation of one of the most important Koala populations in NSW and the homes of 108 other threatened species.

“A 2019 assessment for the timber industry identified 566 jobs in logging native State Forests in North East NSW.

“A 2021 assessment by the Natural Resources Commission put it at 590 jobs

“The Great Koala National Park represents 21% of the area of State Forests in north east NSW able to be logged, so is only a small portion of total logging jobs in the region.

“Since those assessments, the 2019/20 fires resulted in a 45% reduction in logging volumes from north-east NSW’s public forests, and most recently NEFA had the Forestry Corporation admit they have been inflating their claimed yields by 30% for at least the past three years.

“There are less jobs in logging now than previously identified”

“The creation of the GKNP will create new employment opportunities in park management, rehabilitation and tourism. With tourism alone estimated by the University of Newcastle to generate 9,810 new jobs over 15 years

“It is past time for the NSW Government to stop procrastinating and declare the full 176,000 ha of State Forests as the world class Koala park they have identified it as being” Mr. Pugh said.