Interview with Kylie Baxter, ABC Hobart Drive

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC HOBART DRIVE
THURSDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2025

SUBJECTS: EPBC Reforms  

KYLIE BAXTER, HOST: Changes to federal environmental laws have a lot of workers and business owners in the timber industry worried today. Federal Labor, as you heard me say, has secured green support for reforms to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, with the legislation set to pass the Senate today. So, in a nutshell, the laws will see native forest logging and high-risk land clearing now assessed under national environmental standards. This is the first time. Julie Collins is the Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and joins me on the program. Good afternoon.

JULIE COLLINS, MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FORESTRY: Good afternoon, Kylie. How are you and your listeners this afternoon?

BAXTER: Yeah, good, thank you. Now, environmental groups are celebrating. Many in the timber industry are not. They're understandably worried about the future. Julie Collins, have you sold out the timber industry? Does this spell the end of native forestry logging in Tasmania?

COLLINS: Well, no it doesn’t Kylie, to be really blunt about it. This is about supporting the forest industry in Tasmania and around the country. I've been very clear in the past that Australia doesn't have enough timber. It doesn't have enough timber to build our houses and our other products that Australia needs. And what we need is a strong, sustainable timber industry going to the future. And that's why we've already, as a government, invested over $300 million into the industry, including plantations and retooling. And it’s why we are investing, as we announced today, another $300 million in the Timber Fibre Strategy, which was developed by industry, with industry by our government. This is an investment in an industry, showing that we have faith and confidence that this industry will be there for a long time in regional parts right across the country.

BAXTER: Matthew Torenius from Torenius Timber. I'm not sure if he would fully agree. He spoke to Leon on the program on the morning show and said he's really concerned a bit of what he had to say.

[Excerpt]

MATTHEW TORENIUS: But how do you run a business with this much uncertainty? We're a month before Christmas. I'm going to have my workers asking me about this. Do I tell them, you know, it's one thing to say, oh, well, they'll come under new rules and new laws. Well, this is just the constant thing with the industry is that it has these attacks and it does feel like that Tasmanian regional jobs have been bargained off to get the Greens over the line.

[End excerpt]

BAXTER: Have they been bargained off, Julie Collins?

COLLINS: Absolutely not. What we have done is said what we would do, and that is we have always said that we would put the Regional Forest Agreements - the RFAs - into the national environmental standards, and that is exactly what we have done with this legislation. We've said that for the last two years. Indeed, it was a recommendation of Mr. Samuel when the Liberal Party had him review the broken environmental laws five years ago. Everybody knows that these laws have been broken and they needed to be fixed and they needed to be fixed as a matter of urgency, and that is what we have delivered. We've delivered more certainty for the environment, but importantly more certainty for business and shorter yeses and shorter no's. So, businesses have more certainty and this has been widely welcomed by business bodies all over the country.

BAXTER: Nick McKim spoke to Leon and had this to say. He didn't necessarily agree either.

[Excerpt]

NICK MCKIM: This agreement will and should hasten the end of native forest logging.

[End excerpt]

BAXTER: Now you're saying it - so, just for clarity, can you guarantee when the Federal Government starts reviewing this that native forest logging will continue past 2027? Is that your intention, Julie Collins?

COLLINS: Absolutely. What this will do is bring regional forest agreements into the national environmental standards. The way that it will do that Kylie, is by having national environmental standards set and then having the state government accredit the RFA under them and having the Minister sign off on that. That is the way this will work. So, the RFAs will remain and the forestry operation continue. But what this does is allows our world class foresters doing world class forest practices to be able to prove that they are doing that and I have every confidence that they will be able to meet the standards.

BAXTER: Now, Federal Liberal leader Sussan Ley's described the deal as dirty. Was this done behind closed doors without adequate consultation or is that an overreaction?

COLLINS: I think everybody in Australia knows that we wanted to get these laws done this week. We have been out there, Kylie, and everybody knows the urgency and that we wanted to get them done this week.

BAXTER: Why is it that it's still ok if you're continuing to intend to have native forest logging past 2027, that there's a ban in Victoria and Western Australia, why not Tasmania?

COLLINS: They were decisions by state governments. We've been very clear that that is not our intention as a federal government. What you've seen from the state Liberal government of course is them flip flop all over the place in terms of their forestry policy. I don't know what it is at the moment. They seem to be the ones all over the place. But we have been very consistent in our support for industry, and we want this industry to be sustainable going into the future, and that is why we're investing with industry in their timber fibre strategy.

BAXTER: I'm talking to Julie Collins, if you have just tuned into the program, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, I'd like to look now at the broader implications of these reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. What does it mean for fisheries, for example, for Macquarie Harbour and the salmon industry?

COLLINS: Well, that won't change in terms of the way that that works. The Tasmanian State Liberal Government still manages the waterways in Tasmania.

BAXTER: But the EPBC has come in.

COLLINS: Yes, it can be triggered by threatened species as it is in a whole range of projects all over the country. What it'll mean is shorter yes and no's in terms of decisions being made. That's what it will mean, Kylie.

BAXTER: Now you're aware of the concerns in the community about florfenicol. I mean, is there any way the EPBC changes here? Will, will this tighten what can be done and when?

COLLINS: Well, that is a different matter as in the current EPBC wasn't triggered because of that request.

BAXTER: But could it be now with these changes though?

COLLINS: I wouldn't think so, no, but I would obviously need to get some advice on that. But essentially what we're talking about there is that has been assessed by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority - that is the APVMA - who make these decisions and then obviously they go through the process of making sure that the use is safe and that's what they have done.

BAXTER: Now, what about other areas that fall within your portfolio of agriculture, fisheries and forestry? What does it mean for approvals for things like the Robins Island Wind Farm, for example? I mean, will it make things tougher, longer? What do you see happening?

COLLINS: Well, what it will mean is a faster yes and faster no’s, and a much smoother process. So, this will actually be good in terms of getting more renewable projects and other projects up, particularly housing and things like that in Tasmania and across the nation, Kylie.

BAXTER: Just back to forestry for a moment. In relation to the exit money or the transition funds, the $300 million that you referred to, Greens Senator Nick McKim has concerns. So, this is what he said to Leon about that on the mornings program and I'd like to get your reaction.

[Excerpt]

NICK MCKIM: We need to make sure that this money is going to workers in the industry who are affected and is not going to those that have already received massive taxpayer largesse to exit the industry in the past and then have come back in under another guise.

[End excerpt]

BAXTER: As the Minister responsible, can you guarantee the $300 million set aside will not be given to contractors to exit the industry who could then set up under a different name or entity?

COLLINS: Let me be clear, Kylie, the whole premise of those questions and assertions being made by Mr. McKim are entirely false. This package is an investment in the timber fibre strategy. It is not anything other than that. And this is an investment in the fibre strategy that industry actually helped develop. This was done by broad consultation with the industry and it's about implementing that strategy.

BAXTER: Now this is something that John Duniam had to say, the Liberal Senator.

[Excerpt]

JOHN DUNIAM: There's going to be some very far reaching ramifications for energy prices, for housing availability and we will not be able to interrogate this legislation properly.

[End excerpt]

BAXTER: Will there be far reaching consequences in that regard?

COLLINS: Absolutely not. I mean, this is Senator Duniam. When he was the Minister for Forestry, he promised a billion trees and delivered nowhere near them. I wouldn't be trusting anything that he says in relation to this important legislation.

BAXTER: And what about doing deals? Because Terry Edwards earlier said that it would be really hard to negotiate anything because of the timeframes taken to, you know, assess things. Is he wrong? Is he off the mark?

COLLINS: I think that those comments were made before he would have had any idea about the detail of this legislation or seen any of the detail. And as I've said quite clearly, the way that it would work is the Regional Forest Agreements would be accredited by the state government and then signed off by the Federal Minister for the Environment and that's the way that it would work. And we're going to get a faster yes and faster no's in terms of larger projects that we're talking about, including wind farms and housing projects and other things.

BAXTER: Michael's joined the conversation via text - 0438922936 - and says, you know, obviously there's a lot of emotions here. Minister, could you explain, explain the new Act?

COLLINS: There is a lot of emotion and I'm really concerned about people that have been going out scaremongering Kylie, which is why I'm on your program, giving people the facts about the way that this will work. And it's really important that people listen to the facts and that people read for themselves the detail of the legislation. I also want to be very clear that we'll continue to consult with industry in terms of the design of the investments that are going into the timber fibre strategy. We'll also be working with Minister Watt and the Department of the Environment in relation to the national environmental standards and with the state government about the accreditation process. So, there's lots more consultation to occur here. But I've been very clear about the way that the act would work.

BAXTER: And are you 100 per cent confident from a forestry perspective, that you're saying native forests will be logged beyond 2027, even though I know a lot of people would like to see that stopped and a lot of people would like to see it continue, depends on where you sit in the story?

COLLINS: Yeah, Kylie, that's obviously a matter for the Tasmanian State Government. I know the Tasmanian State Government have some issues with their current contract in terms of being able to supply native hardwood into the future. And that is a question for the Tasmanian State Government, who is responsible for that.

BAXTER: So, you're not ruling it out that we could see the same as Western Australia and Victoria, an end?

COLLINS: Well, it'd be nothing to do with the federal government. It would be entirely a matter for the Tasmanian State Government.

BAXTER: Julie Collins, thanks for joining me on the program.

COLLINS: Thanks very much for having me on, Kylie.