AFPA has welcomed the sale of the Rushy Lagoon property in north-east Tasmania to expand Australia’s sovereign capability in sustainable timber production.
The Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has approved UK-based investment company Gresham House to purchase the large property near Launceston, and allow forestry development along with other agricultural production.
AFPA acting deputy Chief Executive Dominic Lane said: “We welcome this important strategic investment to help support and grow Australia’s sovereign capability for sustainable timber production and supply.
“During the building boom in COVID, we couldn’t rely on imports to meet our housing needs in Australia, so new opportunities to strengthen our sovereign capability and investment are critical.
“We also know various forms of agriculture can co-exist in Australia to provide long-term and sustainable benefits to regional communities, local jobs, the national economy and wider population.”
In recent years, there has been a significant reduction in forestry plantations, with Australia’s national plantation estate falling by 264,000 hectares from 1.973 million hectares in 2014-15 to 1.709 million hectares in 2024-25.
Fortunately, a bipartisan national commitment for federal plantation grants in 2022 has helped to reverse this decline, and enabled estates to grow.
“We sincerely thank Federal Agriculture and Forestry Minister the Hon Julie Collins for administering these important grants, however we are still more than 260,000 hectares below the 2014-15 plantation levels, which remains a concern,” Mr Lane said.
“It was fantastic to see both major parties recognising the importance of growing the total area of production forestry with bipartisan support for this grant program at the 2022 election.
“The choice between wood or steel by a homebuilder also makes a big difference between starting with a healthy carbon credit or a deficit. A typical timber house frame absorbs 9.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”
