The New Zealand Government’s discussion document, ‘Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change’, has prompted unprecedented outrage from plantation forest owners and sparked a backlash of deforestation that will affect the country’s struggling timber industry for decades, as Elizabeth Howarth reports.
Emotion and the politics of bushfires are allegedly behind planning injustices perpetuated against the Australian timber industry, and as John Halkett reports, the call is to establish a more scientific base for building standards.
They are describing it as a meltdown – a looming disaster that threatens the very foundation of New Zealand’s sawmilling and wood processing exports. And, as Tony Neilson reports, the apparent villain of the piece is the monetary policy of a government seemingly indifferent to the industry’s plight.
There is no question that the Australian forest products sector is disadvantaged by having too many industry associations but, as Jim Bowden reports, big changes are on the way.
Demand for logging contractors in New Zealand has suddenly taken off – driven by strong export prices and a perceived need to beat government deforestation penalties. But, after years of uncertainty, crews are in short supply, as Elizabeth Howarth reports.
While the National Transport Commission’s (NTC) new driving hours package may pass muster with the ministers of the Australian Transport Council, the battle is far from over for the industry
In response to regular requests from the industry for independent road tests of ‘relevant’ vehicles and machinery, we naturally turned to our own Jim Bowden – an experienced and widely published motoring writer.
