The North East Forest Alliance is calling for a full investigation into the operations of the NSW north coast woodchipping company, Sawmillers Exports Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Boral Timbers P/L, following the revelation that the company has exported woodchips from a private property without the required federal government approval.
The matter has been passed on to the Member for Page, Harry Woods, for referral to the new federal minister of resources, Michael Lee, along with a request for the immediate cancellation of Sawmillers Exports Pty Ltd's current woodchip export licence.
The allegations about illegal woodchipping were made by NEFA following the release of a statement by an ex-contractor to Sawmillers Exports Pty Ltd, Arthur Chambers.
Chambers states that in late 1987-88 he hired machinery to Sawmillers Exports Pty Ltd to log a private property in Nymboida Shire, west of Grafton, for woodchips. Federal government records of export licences show that Sawmillers Exports Pty Ltd did not have approval for any properties in the Nymboida Shire area.
Chambers also states that he witnessed sawlogs being transported to the woodchipper and that while employed as a contractor to split logs at Sawmillers Exports Pty Ltd's woodchipper at Tea Gardens from 1983 to February 1986 he witnessed sawlogs being woodchipped.
Chambers hopes that other people in the timber industry will now come forward with their own examples of mismanagement so that Sawmillers Exports work practices can be changed for the benefit of timber workers and the forests.
"Mr Chambers' statements support NEFA's claims that sawlogs were being sent through the woodchipper at Tea Gardens, and this adds weight to the need for a full investigation of the affairs of Sawmillers Exports Pty Ltd. Their current export licence must be suspended immediately while a full investigation of this matter is undertaken", NEFA spokesperson Andrew Steed said.
"Since our investigation indicates that woodchips have been improperly obtained and exported without federal government approval, no future export licence should be given to Sawmillers Exports Pty Ltd."
Chambers said that from his recollections of discussions with other people involved in the timber industry around this time, apparently a similar situation was occurring at a number of other private properties.
"If this is the case, then Sawmillers Exports Pty Ltd may have been exporting woodchips without the required approval and assessment on a regular basis", Steed said. A succession of federal environment ministers have recommended an environmental impact statement for Sawmillers Exports since 1983, but documents obtained by NEFA under Freedom of Information show that this advice has been ignored by a succession of primary industries ministers.
"It is patently obvious that the federal government lacks the ability to regulate the woodchipping industry. It is not monitoring it in any way and relies solely on the industry for information. The current incident shows that self regulation in the woodchipping industry is an absolute failure", Steed said.