Rod McInnes

Timber Queensland

The next two years are going to be ones of change within the forestry and wood products industry in Queensland.

The industry generally has been undergoing a period of rationalisation, and I see this theme continuing into the future.

Certainly the Western Hardwoods component of the Queensland Statewide Forest Planning Process, which has been dragging on for some time, will be finalised and will result in the withdrawal by industry from logging of native forest in the Western Hardwoods area, over a period of 20 years, with a move towards plantation hardwoods.

In addition to immediately ‘locking up’ one million hectares of forest, the State Government is endeavouring to meet its target of reducing crown allocations by 25 per cent by voluntary buyouts of crown allocations and timber businesses.

By doing so, this will permanently alter the industry in Queensland, with a lesser degree of competition, and many regional towns losing their major employers.

By its very nature, this will result in some reduction in volume processed, and thus lead to an increase in imported timber in order to meet the demands of the local market until the replacement plantations come on stream in the future.

The use and application of timber in construction continues to be challenged by an ever-changing environment from a regulatory standpoint. Several recent regulatory imposts have the potential to constrain or diminish or markets over the next two years.

Whilst most people are aware of the limitations recently placed upon CCA treated timber, the areas of energy efficiency and sustainability are becoming increasingly important.

The draft Five Star energy efficiency requirements proposed to be introduced in 2006 seriously disenfranchise lightweight construction in Queensland in favour of heavy masonry walls and slabs.

Despite industry’s best efforts in having thermal software prediction models revised to better address ‘ventilated’ housing, it would appear the models still have a bias towards heavyweight construction, even in the tropics.

This could result in suspended timber floors requiring insulation in order to meet Five Star requirements.

The move towards ‘sustainability’ also provides us with an opportunity over coming years to continue to push the environmental credentials of timber over other common building products.

We have a great story to tell - we need to make sure that we continue to tell it.

The challenges over the next two years are therefore, as always, to increase the market for timber within Queensland, to remove impediments to timbers application and use, and to ensure that to the maximum extent possible, Queensland’s timber demand is met from locally grown resource.

Queensland’s state forests are now certified to the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) which is internationally recognised, thus providing opportunities for suitably labelled forest products in domestic and international markets.

I am certainly excited by the task of ensuring that all of this happens, and the inherent challenges presented within this context to continue to see the timber industry thrive over the next two years and into the future.