MEDIA RELEASE 2 December 2025

The Forestry Corporation’s loss of $32 million from its hardwood logging operations last year, and their ongoing failure to honour Wood Supply Agreements, shows that logging public native forests is an economic basket-case and not a viable business, according to NEFA spokesperson Dailan Pugh.

“Over the past 4 years the Forestry Corporation lost $85 million from logging native hardwood forests and hardwood plantations, despite receiving tens of millions in taxpayer equity injections. On top of this sawmillers received tens of millions in Government payments for transport subsidies and for mill upgrades   

“Last year it cost $4,330 a hectare to log 7,390 ha of public native forests. Taxpayers are paying an exorbitant cost to subsidise private sawmillers to log native forests.

“Since the 2019/20 wildfires the Forestry Corporation’s yields from native forests in north-east NSW have crashed by 44%, the timber is simply not there anymore, yet the Forestry Corporation remains in denial (1, 2). This is before  the creation of the Great Koala National Park, and so cannot be blamed on it.

“With gross over-logging and timber yields crashing there are no prospects that logging of native forests will ever be economically viable.

“Despite prematurely logging hardwood plantations, since the fires the Forestry Corporation have not been able to supply the volumes committed to sawmillers in legally enforceable Wood Supply Agreements, exposing taxpayers to millions more in compensation payments. (2). While the Forestry Corporation’s Annual Report acknowledges this failure, it does not identify the volumes, or account for the accumulated debt from the past 6 years of shortfalls.

“We not only have to pay to supply the timber to sawmillers, we also have to pay for the timber they don’t get.

“Logging public native forests is an economic basketcase, and with plantations now providing 91% of our sawntimber, it is no longer needed. It will be of far greater economic benefit to the community to complete the transition to plantations and stop degrading public forests. 

“Stopping logging and restoring public native forests is worth immeasurably more for restoring habitat of threatened species (cheaper than expensive recovery actions), increasing water yields to streams and reservoirs, sequestering and storing CO₂ out of harm’s way, and providing recreation opportunities and tourism revenue.

“It is in the best interests of the community to stop logging public native forests” Mr. Pugh said.

Forestry Corporation Annual Report 2024/25: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/tp/files/192061/Attachment%20E1%20-%20Forestry%20Corporation%20of%20NSW%20Annual%20Report%202024-25.pdf

• Pugh, D. (2025) Forestry Corporation timber claims grossly inflated. North East Forest Alliance. https://assets.nationbuilder.com/ncec/pages/47/attachments/original/1762905065/Forestry_Corporation_timber_claims_grossly_inflated.pdf?1762905065
• Pugh, D. (2025) Additional notes on yield reductions. North East Forest Alliance. https://assets.nationbuilder.com/ncec/pages/47/attachments/original/1764285015/Notes_on_yield_reductions_2025.pdf?1764285015