Unanimous Federal Court decision a major win for Victorian hardwood timber industry

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Unanimous Federal Court decision a major win for Victorian hardwood timber industry
The full bench of the Federal Court has today delivered an historic win for Australia’s sustainable native forest industries by confirming that forestry operations covered by Regional Forest Agreements provide all the environmental protections required by national environmental laws.
In a unanimous decision, the Court upheld VicForests’ appeal against a single-judge decision 12 months ago which had created significant legal uncertainty for RFAs and for the tens of thousands of forest industry jobs that the bilateral state-Commonwealth agreements underpin.
At the heart of the appeal was whether the Commonwealth EPBC Act could apply to forestry operations covered by an RFA, or whether the RFAs provide an equivalent and alternative (as VicForests maintained) regulatory framework with Commonwealth oversight to protect “Matters of National Environmental Significance”. The Full bench today ruled that they do, and consequently the EPBC Act does not also apply.*

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