Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Illegal Logging Prohibition Amendment (Strengthening Measures to Prevent Illegal Timber Trade) Bill 2024, which was brought to the parliament by the fabulous Minister Murray Watt. This bill is an election commitment and an important update to existing legislation. It will ensure that Australia is both well positioned and well armed for success in our fight against illegally logged timber and timber products entering our country.

The term 'illegal logging' refers to a range of illegal activities: the harvesting of protected species, logging in protected areas, logging with fake permits and using illegal harvesting methods. Sadly, illegal logging occurs all over the globe, including in Australia, but the particular hotspots include the Amazon basin, Central Africa, South-East Asia and in the Russian Federation. I put on the record my particular concern about something that is actually, I guess, legal logging, or non-illegal land clearing. For example, in Queensland, bulldozers clear vegetation and that doesn't require the consent of the environment minister either at the state level or the Commonwealth level. But I digress. That's another issue that we need to deal with.

It is currently estimated that up to 10 per cent of the timber imports to Australia may have been illegally logged. This has an adverse effect on our sustainable timber industry and its linked supply chains, investment and jobs. The Australian forestry industry is crucial. It has an annual economic contribution of around $25 billion and supports about 80,000 jobs, particularly in the bush.

Fighting illegal logging is not just a local matter. Illegal logging needs to be addressed on a global scale as well. This is necessary for economic, societal and environmental reasons. We can be proud that Australia has been at the forefront of this fight since 2012. That's when we introduced world-leading logging prohibition laws in the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act. This act was amongst the first of its kind internationally. It focused on restricting the import and sale of illegally logged timber and timber products. Isn't it a proud record that Labor has of being a middle country going to the rest of the world and saying, 'We need to address this harm'? Whether it be tobacco or the internet, Australia does have a proud record, particularly under Labor governments.

The legislation also restricted the processing of domestic timber that had been illegally cut down. The act included a requirement for timber importers and processors to conduct due diligence on the source of their timber. I have been contacted by one of my constituents about timber coming from Myanmar. Just tracking down the provenance of the timber, particularly that used in the marine industry, was an interesting process. Nevertheless, in the years since this act was introduced there has been growing awareness of the detrimental effects of illegal logging, both at the individual consumer level and at the broader societal and government levels. Australian consumers are increasingly demanding sustainability in the timber product industry. We want to be sure that our wooden floors, furniture, takeaway containers and even the paper that this speech is printed on have been both legally and sustainably sourced.

Alongside this, there is also increasingly widespread awareness of the devastating environmental and societal impacts of deforestation. Governments around the world have responded with tightened regulatory approaches, as well as with new technology, to combat illegal practices. As a result, we now have the opportunity to harness a more global approach and to work with the international community to fight illegal logging and the resulting trade. To make progress in stopping illegal logging, there needs to be an interconnected approach of enforced legislation, international frameworks and cooperation amongst governments and organisations. A global approach is required because, if consumer countries continue to allow the import of illegally logged timber or timber products, then they are basically complicit in the illegal trade. We need to shut down the market for illegal timber.

With these amendments, Labor will also implement the recommendations from the statutory and sunsetting reviews of the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act 2012, which indicated that there were challenges with enforcement. These recommendations include identifying contraventions and taking appropriate and timely compliance action. This bill will strengthen and modernise the act both to protect the Australian market from illegally logged timber imports and to bolster the sustainable and legal international timber trade. It will push one down and lift the other one up.

The detrimental effects of illegal logging and the resulting illegal timber trade are wide ranging. In the places where illegal logging occurs, there are destructive effects on indigenous peoples and local communities. The effects it was having on indigenous people was a particular concern raised with a parliamentary delegation by representatives from Myanmar. Our forests are central to the livelihood and cultural heritage in many of these indigenous communities. It is, sadly, not unusual for conflict and human rights abuses to occur as a result of confrontations over land rights and logging rights.

As the most profitable environmental crime, illegal logging is linked to a range of shady dealings such as corruption, organised crime and exploitation—and other crimes, I would suggest, including murder. The United Nations estimates that the global illegal timber trade is worth between $30 billion and $100 billion annually. In many, cases this unregulated market directly affects developing countries with tax revenue that they cannot collect and it lowers the price of the product for producers who are actually following the law. The good producers are being punished by the bad. The World Bank estimates that timber-producing countries lose up to $15 billion per year in lost revenue because of this.

There is no denying that illegal logging is an environmental disaster. We have all seen the terrible pictures of vast swathes of cleared rainforest, sad scars on the landscape. At the local level there is a staggering loss of biodiversity, and destruction of the habitat of endangered species. Other impacts include soil erosion, the potential for dangerous landslides and run-off of sediment, and often pollutants into rivers and coastal waters that damage fragile ecosystems. I'm sure that members of the coalition would be up in arms at this clearing, particularly if there were a hint that it was being used for renewable energy, putting up solar panels—then they'd be animated. But we should all be concerned about all illegal logging, because all sensible people know that illegal logging has also contributed to climate change. We all know the science by now that forests are carbon sinks. When large sections of forest are decimated, there are vastly fewer trees to perform the critical act of soaking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It's a natural process. And when the felled trees are then burned, their stored carbon is still released into the atmosphere as dangerous CO2. Not that CO2 in the atmosphere is dangerous, but that these are dangerous levels of CO2.

This wide range of negative impacts shows the complexity of this global problem. Thankfully, there are new weapons in our arsenal, both practical and regulatory, which can assist in combating this pernicious trade. On the practical side, research is progressing into new and emerging timber identification technologies. These technologies employ genomics to determine the identity of the tree species and the geographic origin of logged trees. The Australian government has invested $4.4 million in a timber identification trial. Some would say this provides fingerprints for trees—I wouldn't, but the aim is to ensure that reference databases, systems and procedures are fit for identification purposes under the amendment to the act. Timber testing will be deployed alongside best practice regulatory approaches to support compliance personnel in verifying the origin and species of imported timber. It will enable them to assess the accuracy and strength of the due diligence procedures of the provenance of the timber.

The bill also introduces necessary regulatory enhancements. These include the requirement for importers and processers to give prior notice before importing timber—knowing what is coming into the country in advance enables targeted testing on the origin of the timber. The amendments also include further regulatory strengthening, with more flexible enforcement options and expanded monitoring and investigation powers regarding testing and analysis of samples. The bill also provides for strict liability offences, injunctions and enforceable undertakings—a sliding scale of changing behaviour. We are bolstering due diligence measures by enabling audits to determine compliance with regulations. There is also an extension to the time frame for issuing infringement notices to 24 months. This allows a thorough completion of the audit and associated compliance activities. The bill also enables naming and shaming, with details of contraventions to be published on the department's website. This will act as a deterrent for others seeking to profit from the illegal-logging trade—a business that is doing the wrong thing and turning a blind eye could be called out for so doing.

This bill is an important part of ensuring that our illegal-logging legislation remains in step with international efforts to stamp out the practice and the trade. Strengthening traceability processes and regulatory systems will make Australia an unattractive destination for those seeking to profit from illegal logging and all the harm that goes with it. It will also enhance our reputation for and commitment to sustainable timber production. These measures will minimise the negative effect of the trade on our local industries and supply chains.

The bill also enjoys broad support from the forestry industry and environmental stakeholders, as the CEO of the Australian Forest Products Association pointed out:

Illegal timber not only undermines the environmental sustainability of the forest products industry, it also undermines our domestic biosecurity protections creating a heightened risk of potentially devastating pests and diseases that can devastate local industry.

I note that the opposition have indicated their support for this legislation as well.

I'd like to end by taking a moment to look at the broader picture. The amendments in this bill are in line with the Albanese Labor government's commitment to supporting global action on climate change, to protecting biodiversity and to stopping species extinction. In just two years in government, Labor has developed a nature repair market and expanded the water trigger so that oil, gas and fracking projects need to be assessed for their impact on our precious water resources. We'll be establishing an independent environment protection agency, a tough green cop on the beat, and the new Environment Information Australia body, which is basically the ABS for the bush. We've made a $100 million investment in faster environmental approvals. The Minister for the Environment and Water is also pressing ahead with consultations for further updates to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The amendments in this bill also support other key government priorities, such as taking on organised crime and corruption that disadvantage developing countries, particularly indigenous communities. Such matters are concern are everyone's concern, as global citizens, especially for the globe's 13th biggest economy, a country that can have a great role on the stage in terms of leading the middle powers to do the right thing. I commend the bill to the House.

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