The Nationals will lodge a Notice of Motion in the Senate and House of Representatives to stop Labor’s new carbon credit approval, which will lock up land and destroy regional jobs.
The Nationals have moved to disallow the Carbon Credits Methodology Determination 2026, to stop Labor from paying state governments to permanently cease commercial timber harvesting across entire Regional Forest Agreement areas, in exchange for ‘carbon credits’.
“Labor’s new carbon credit approval will cause irreversible damage to Australia’s sustainable native forestry industry, sovereign timber supply capability, agricultural land and regional communities – locking up productive forest land for 100 years,” Nationals Leader, Senator Matt Canavan said.
“This will mean less timber to build Australian homes, which, in turn, means less Australian jobs. It will shut down another regional industry and end regional forestry jobs, hurting our economy and making our country weaker. The Australian forest industry directly employs about 80,000 people with a further 100,000 indirect jobs, concentrated in regional communities. This is a crucial industry that we must protect.”
Senator Canavan said at the same time, Labor is also planning to lock up another 39 million hectares of land to meet its 2030 target.
“Victoria is around 22 million hectares – so Labor wants to lock up almost two Victorias worth of land. Australians should be concerned about multi-million dollar companies locking up Australian land for their carbon credits, to appease a woke box-ticking carbon credit offset. This will set a dangerous precedent of what is to come, if approved.”
The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has also reportedly provided the Treasurer advice on the potential sale of Tasmania’s largest farm to a British forestry investment firm.
The deal to buy the almost 22,0000-hectare irrigated beef and dairy farm is expected to exceed $100 million, with large scale tree plantings planned, subsidised by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Minister Chalmers reportedly has until this Wednesday (July 1), to make a formal decision about the proposed transaction.
Shadow Minister for Agriculture Darren Chester said closing native forestry across an entire RFA region for 100 years accelerates import dependence and pushes construction toward steel and concrete, which has already been seen following the closure of native forestry in states such as Victoria.
“I represent the communities that lived through the shutdown of native forestry in Victoria, and I know this leads to mills closed, skilled workers gone, and proud towns left to pick up the pieces,” Mr Chester said.
“When it comes to timber, you either use your own in an environmentally sustainable way, or you source timber from countries with worse environmental standards than ours.”
Australian Forest Products Association Acting Deputy CEO Dominic Lane said the decision prioritised politics over science and would damage the public confidence and transparency of the ACCU scheme.
“This short-sighted decision risks undermining Australia’s sustainable multiple-use public production forests, which already deliver environmental, economic and climate benefits through active forest management,” Mr Lane said.
“The only apparent beneficiary of this method is the NSW Government, which wants someone else to pay to fund their election commitment to develop the Great Koala National Park.”
