Forest Products Industry

The HIA Housing Scorecard report ranks each of the eight states and territories based on the performance of 13 key residential building indicators against their decade average, covering detached and multi-unit building activity, renovations, housing finance and rates of overseas and interstate migration. Source: Timberbiz“South Australia is one of the few markets where first home buyers can still afford a house and land package,” HIA Executive Director Stephen Knight said. “The state has capitalised on this relative affordability, with more and more people choosing it over the larger states to the east. “South Australia has the strongest detached housing sector in the nation with activity remaining resilient to the rise in the cash rate. “Recent efforts to increase higher density development in areas well serviced by transport will help accommodate this housing demand going forward,” he said. South Australia also has the nation’s strongest renovations sector that remains well above pre-pandemic levels of activity. Queensland took out second place in the rankings, trading places with South Australia over the last few years. The state has absorbed significant numbers of overseas migrants, as well as interstate arrivals, especially from New South Wales and Victoria. “Western Australia has had a remarkable surge up the rankings,” Mr Knight said. “The state has capitalised on its affordability advantages and strong economic and employment opportunities to jump from seventh position into third in just one year. “The main constraint for Australia’s mid-sized jurisdictions at the moment is simply getting enough labour to meet their housing demands, a constraint which is gradually easing,” he said. Mr Knight said the largest states, Victoria and New South Wales, faced the most acute land affordability constraints in the nation. He said this had left their detached housing markets more vulnerable to the compounding effect of rising interest rates. Combined with the dramatic decline in new apartment development as state governments tax investment in housing, this had driven these states down the rankings into fourth and fifth position respectively. The smaller states round out the rankings. “The Australian Capital Territory’s multi-units sector has been a valuable source of activity for this jurisdiction, testament to local authorities’ commitment to higher density living. A significant number of residents have nonetheless left the Territory since the pandemic shifted into the rear-view mirror,” Mr Knight said. “Tasmania’s slide down the rankings has been on the back of investors and local residents leaving the state after being such an important driver of the state’s pandemic and pre-pandemic booms. “The Northern Territory is still dependent on major government or mining sector investment to push it significantly up the rankings. “The synchronised cycle of the pandemic is coming to an end. The mid-sized states are pulling ahead,” Mr Knight said.

WA’s Cook Government’s Forest Management Plan 2024-2033 (FMP), which supports the decision to bring commercial logging of native forests to an end, will be bolstered with a $67.2 million investment over the next four years. Source: Timberbiz “This funding will support that historic decision, as well as create jobs, tackle climate change, and help manage water catchments,” Environment Minister Reece Whitby said. “This is important work, and our Government’s Native Forest Transition plan will also provide local communities the potential for forests to be used for recreation, tourism and other uses.” The funding, which will be part of the 2024-25 State Budget, will deliver: an additional 65 new jobs throughout Western Australia’s South West and metropolitan Perth, focused on a range of climate actions; a new forest health monitoring program; and support for emerging technologies, such as eco-acoustics, fire research, and ecological thinning, to improve forest health. “Under the new Forest Management Plan, some native timbers will still be available through ecological thinning, which promotes forest heath and resilience from drought and bushfires,” Forestry Minister Jackie Jarvis said. “The State Government is committed to working with the smaller sustainable mills that will play a valuable role into the future.” Funding will also support work with Traditional Owners, protection of native wildlife from feral predators and managing weeds and plant diseases. The new jobs will be created between 2024 and 2027 within the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) and partner agencies. The Forest Management Plan 2024-2033 came into effect on 1 January. It established the legal framework for managing more than 2.5 million hectares of forests across the State’s South West and includes a commitment to add more than 400,000 hectares of karri, jarrah and wandoo forests as nature reserves, national parks and conservation parks. Opposition Forestry spokesperson Steve Martin said the Government had cost industry jobs in its FMP and now taxpayers were footing the bill for new ones. “Minister Jarvis talks about working with smaller sustainable mills, but we’ve been asking her since the beginning of the year for updates on the status of supply contracts for small operators, with very little information provided in response,” he told The Augusta Margaret River Times. “Their decision to ban native hardwood forestry without warning or consultation threw legitimate and long-term multi-generational business into chaos, and their transition packages have been poorly targeted.” He said this week’s announcement meant more costs for taxpayers while “economic opportunities have been actively killed off by Labor”.