Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Rice for the question. I recognise this is an issue that she has a long history of activism in. There are two states in Australia which have now decided to phase out native forestry, those being Victoria and Western Australia, but there are a number of states that have not made that decision. As you point out, native forestry around a number of states is regulated through regional forestry agreements.

The reality is that, at this point in time at least, we are not in a position as a country to meet all our timber needs through plantation forestry. It's estimated that plantations supply something like 85 to 90 per cent of timber, paper and products in Australia, and it is completely unrealistic to think that if we were to ban native forestry immediately in the form that you're suggesting we would be able to meet our timber, paper and other wood product needs—