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Setting the standard for sustainable forest management Globally recognised by PEFC, the world’s largest sustainable forest management certification scheme.
ISSUE 325 | July 7, 2014
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Delivered weekly to timber merchants, sawmillers, wood processors, foresters, members of national, state and trade organisations and associations throughout Australia, New Zealand and various countries.
Softly, softly on legality of wood
No ‘bullying’, but it’s all in the paperwork
A SERIES of one-day industry timber legality seminars attended by government authorities over recent weeks in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane assured participants that the illegal logging due diligence compliance – effective from November 30 – will not be a bullying exercise, but rather an education, training and awareness process. “We won’t be sending in the Alsatians on December 1,” was a comment by one speaker at the Brisbane seminar last week. The Illegal Logging Prohibition Act will be expanded at the end of November, when companies will have to prove ‘due diligence’
On notice: severe penalties for importing illegal wood.
was undertaken in ensuring imported wood products came from legitimate sources.
The regulation will affect more than 21,000 importers in Australia. A Department of Agriculture position paper, released earlier this month, states: ‘‘The department will not seek to ‘catch out’ those who are trying to do the right thing.’’ A spokesman confirmed the emphasis will instead be on education, training and awareness. Companies can only be fined after an initial 18-month transition period if they ‘‘intentionally, knowingly or recklessly’’ import products from illegal logging. But with federal penalties for Cont P 3
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ISSUE 325 | PAGE 1
INDUSTRY NEWS
Relief and disbelief on Dutch MTCS approval
Malaysian certified timber ‘less sustainable’
forestworks@forestworks.com.au
www.forestworks.com.au
THE Netherlands has temporarily accepted the PEFC-endorsed Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme under its public procurement policy for timber, but Malaysia is concerned the decision is temporary and that its timber will be treated as ‘less sustainable’. The Malaysian Timber Certification Council welcomed the long-overdue acceptance of the already PEFCendorsed Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme under the Dutch government’s timber procurement policy. This decision allows the timber and construction industry in the Netherlands to use PEFCcertified timber under the MTCS for Dutch public procurement projects. There is, however, also disbelief that the acceptance by the Dutch government is only temporary, in spite of the intended full acceptance agreed upon three years ago. CEO of MTCC Yong Teng Koon said: “We are relieved that the Malaysian efforts in the field of sustainable forest management opens the Dutch government market for MTCS certified timber. However, we are also concerned that our timber will be treated as less sustainable.” The Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and the Environment classifies MTCS as ‘not fully meeting the TPAS criteria’, thereby continuing to
Sharon Dijksma
Yong Teng Koon
show differential treatment for the MTCS. Mr Yong added: “As a valued member of PEFC International and as a scheme accepted by all five EU member states with active sustainable procurement policies, MTCS has proved to meet internationally accepted and recognised sustainability requirements of PEFC International.’’ MTCC considers the recent visit of the Dutch State Secretary for Economic Affairs Sharon Dijksma to Malaysia on June 12 as an important step towards the full and unconditional acceptance of the MTCS following a constructive bilateral meeting with her Malaysian counterpart Douglas Uggah Embas from the Malaysian Ministry for Plantation Industries and Commodities. Ms Dijksma, 43, was appointed State Secretary by the Labour Party in 2012, and her economics portfolio deals with agriculture, forestry and food quality. Her scheduled visit to a MTCScertified forest on June 13 also
Douglas Embas
provided her the opportunity to witness the implementation of sustainable forest management practices in Malaysia, including the opportunity to study detailed maps of MTCS certified forests. The Dutch Cabinet had specifically requested the parliament to recognise the role and responsibility of the international umbrella organisation PEFC International, which is currently reassessing the MTCS under the new PEFC meta-standards. The outcome of the review is expected later this year. Malaysia expects the Dutch government to fully accept the MTCS under its procurement policy if this reassessment concludes that the MTCS fully complies with PEFC International’s meta-standards, according to Yong Teng Koon. With this decision, PEFCcertified timber and timber products under the MTCS are now accepted under the timber procurement policy of the Dutch government.
Housing recovery stays on track
THE nearly 10%, seasonally adjusted, rise in the latest building approvals shows that the building and construction industry is well placed to be the major engine of growth and jobs as the economy adjusts to the decline in engineering construction in the mining sector.
PAGE 2 | ISSUE 325
Master Builders Australia CEO Wilhelm Harnisch said the 9.9% rise in building approvals for May reflected the continuing strength of demand for units and apartments. “This reflects confidence in the industry and will provide a pipeline of work for up to the
next three years,” Mr Harnisch said. “Of some concern, however, is the continuing weakness in approvals for detached housing which validates the Reserve Bank’s decision to leave interests at record lows.”
INDUSTRY NEWS
Seminars helped ‘clear the air’ on many timber legality issues
From P 1
transgression – a five-year jail term and fines up to $425,000 – and the risks and extra costs associated with due diligence paperwork, it is clear the new laws are under a cloud. Industry fought hard against the new laws during several years of debate. Liberal MP Paul Fletcher once described the laws as “disturbingly draconian” and “badly thought through’’ for creating such uncertainty in business. NZ-based industry analyst Dennis Neilson, who is running an international timber conference in Melbourne next month, said to an outside observer, it seemed Australians were burdened enough with ultra-high taxes and bureaucratic costs at four to five different levels of government without having yet more informal taxes imposed upon them.
Due diligence guidance tools and templates In 2012, Australia joined the US and the European Union in passing laws aimed at tackling illegal logging. “The USA Lacey Act is, we understand, so onerous that authorities there can ignore international certification such as FSC, and still fine and possibly imprison importers if the government decides by some (undefined) measure that some wood is not legal,” Mr Neilson said. “Many bonafide importers may well get spooked by the Australian legislation and just stop, or severely reduce imports to save time and risk. That would be unfortunate as Australia will need to permanently import wood products. “Equally, such actions may actually harm employment and livelihoods in many Pacific
At the illegal logging regulation and due diligence training seminar in Brisbane: Standing, from left, Sam Ling, group purchasing manager and SE Asia marketing and sales manager, Moxon Group; Debbie Russell, financial controller, Matilda Veneer; Anthony Wardrop, managing director, Matilda Veneer; and Marc Robinson, director, Managed Forest Products, Adelaide; and seated, Stephen Mitchell, sustainability program manager, Timber Development Association; Ben Mitchell, director, International Forest Policy, federal Department of Agriculture; Neil Garbutt, assistant director, forestry branch, Department of Agriculture; and Michael Pescott, program manager, TFT (The Forest Trust).
island and Asian countries. Is it worse to cut down a tree with a ‘grey’ ownership, or to deprive incomes, food and shelter to subsistence rural populations? “We trust that the Australian government will take a very sensible and pragmatic approach to wood imports, which are critical to a wooddeficit Australia. Industry bodies and their executives will no doubt have an important role to play as the November 2014 implementation date is reached.” The three training seminars, ahead of more comprehensive educational workshops by the Department of Agriculture, helped clear the air on many timber legality issues, presenting a solid understanding of the regulation and how to comply. “The seminars gave real world examples and covered commonly asked questions,” said seminars convenor Stephen Mitchell, sustainability program manager at the Timber Development Association. “This included a breakdown on which goods are regulated,
the role of certification and thirdparty legality and the expected lay of the playing field after November 30,” he said. Seminar participants were also taken through freely available industry due diligence guidance tools and templates which can be adapted for existing business systems or used to build standalone due diligence procedures and practices. Examples were given on how to compile sufficient supplier and product information, assess risk, validate documents and, if needed, make decisions on acceptable risk mitigation measures. The seminars were aimed at directors and purchasing staff from importers of timber, plywood, veneer, MDF, particleboard, joinery, pulp and Cont P 6
ISSUE 325 | PAGE 3
TIMBER PRESERVATION
TPAA at the crossroads
Jack Norton appointed interim national secretary as association plans new direction and strategy THE appointment of Brisbanebased wood protection scientist Jack Norton as interim national secretary had given the TPAA ‘breathing space’ to work on the association’s new direction plan, president Wayne Lewis said. David Marlay of Marketing and Timber Export Services decided not to renew his company’s contract beyond June 30. TPAA’s planned new strategy will be presented at the next
Huge number of issues that TPAA needs to address council meeting in Melbourne in September during the Wood Innovations seminar. Mr Norton’s three-month trial period as national secretary was
Wayne Lewis
Jack Norton
effective from July 1. David Marlay said his short term as national secretary had been interesting, to say the least. “At the end of the day, my decision not to continue past the initial agreed term was motivated by my misunderstanding of the overall process and requirements of the position
David Marlay
and the time taken to carry out these functions, despite my long involvement with TPAA,” Mr Marlay said. “I learnt a long time ago, that if you want things to change then first you must change – and I have done so. “There are a huge number of issues that TPAA needs
Doug Howick
to address urgently and at its council meeting on June 23 president Wayne Lewis appointed a council working group to address these issues.” Mr Marlay said it was his sincere hope that the issues were quickly addressed and decisions made. Cont P 6
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PAGE 4
| ISSUE 325
2014 AROUND THE CIRCUIT
JULY
6-9: NZIF 2014 conference – Napier War Memorial, 48 Marine Parade, Napier. This is the Institute of Forestry’s main event for the year. Forest owners, professionals, managers, consultants and educators will meet to discuss the conference theme, ‘Tackling the Challenges and Delivering Value’. Field trip to Hawkes Bay, New Zealand’s fruit bowl and premium wine region – and 135,000 ha of forest plantations split between a few larger companies and many smaller growers. Email: admin@ nzif.org.nz Web: www.forestry. org.nz 28-30: Australian Timber Trainers Association annual workshop in Tumut. Contact David McElvenny PO Box 1954 Strawberry Hills, NSW, 2012. Mob: 0403 570 673. Email: secretary@atta.org.au Web: www.atta.org.au
AUGUST 2014
5-6: MobileTECH 2014: Primary Industries Future. Brisbane. 12-13: Auckland, NZ (www.mobiletech2014.com). These events will profile the latest mobile tools, technologies and innovations driving the future of primary industries (farming, horticulture, forestry, dairy, meat, wool, fisheries and mining). MobileTECH 2014 will showcase a wide range of mobile technologies and innovations, including smartphones, tablets, mobile apps, satellite mapping and communications, robotics, aerial drones, remote sensors, electronic tagging, intelligent data, M2M, real-time analytics and cloud-based platforms. 6-9: AWISA 2014 exhibition. Brisbane Convention and exhibition Centre. Displays of panel processing, solid wood and timber machinery, tooling, manufacturing software, plus ancillary products such as dust extraction and materials handling equipment. Opportunity forn the cabinet, kitchen, furniture,
joinery, timber, fit-out and panel industries to inspect new equipment. Inquiries about booking space: email info@awisa. com or call Geoff Holland. Tel: (02) 9918 3661. Fax: (02) 9918 7764. Mob: 0412 361 580. Email: info@awisa.com 7-8: The Australian Forest and Forest Products Sector: Situation in 2014 and Trends Going Forward. DANA conference – Bayview Eden Hotel, Melbourne. Presentations on the tree plantation industry and its trading environment, log production and exports, softwood and hardwood woodchip export trends to major markets and the future outlook; the sawn timber industry – production and direction (including import competition), the potential for wood panel expansion, the domestic pulp and paper sectors and global pulp demand outlook, wood pellet potential; and more. This includes 13 speaker from Australia and 10 high-profile specialists in their fields from overseas – two from China, two from Canada, two from the US and one each from Chile, Finland and New Zealand. Shanghai-based RISI forestry specialist Gavin Hao will provide an extended presentation on North Asian and Indian softwood and woodchip markets, where Australia fits into these markets in 2013 and 2014, and predictions about future demand. Other speakers include Oliver Lansdell, global pulp specialist; Rodrigo Monreal, solid wood products chief of Arauco, Chile; Matthew Wood, CEO Stora Enso Australia; Russ Taylor, president of WOODMarkets; Peter Barynin, lead economist with Boston USA-based RISI; Peter Zed (Australian sawmilling sector); Simon Dories, general manager, Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia; Ross Hampton, CEO, Forest and Wood Products Australia; Steve Whitley, CEO, Forestry Tasmania. Full registration details, plus the program, speakers, sponsorship
and the online registration can be viewed at prcc.com.au / danamelbourne2014 or contact Pamela Richards at email pam@ prcc.com.au 11-12: DANA conference, Rotorua, NZ. The New Zealand forestry and forest products sector: its situation in 2014 and trends going forward. Novotel Rotorua Hotel, Rotorua. Web: www.prcc.com.au/ danamelbourne2014. Conference consultant: Pam Richards 61 3 5781 0069. Email: pam@prcc.com.au
SEPTEMBER
17-18: Wood Innovations 2014: Timber Preservation – Wood Modification – Composite Products – Rotorua, NZ. 23-24: Melbourne. (www.woodinnovations2014. com). Changes in new wood treatment formulations, processes and systems, standards, legislation with the focus also on wood plastic composites and modified wood products. 19-20: ForestTECH 2014. Rotorua, NZ. 25-26: Melbourne. (www.foresttech2014.com). Remote sensing, field Inventory, forest estate planning.
2015 MARCH
25: ForestWorks annual industry conference and dinner in Canberra. Flagship event for the forest, wood, paper and timber products industries. Joining with the Australian Forest Products Association to co-host the popular networking industry dinner at Parliament House. Conference will look beyond the innovative technologies in industry and focus on the people, exploring how they can help to bring about innovation. Further details will be announced in the coming months, including the conference theme, speakers and venue. Contact forestworks@forestworks.com.au
INDUSTRY NEWS
THE AUSTRALIAN FOREST PRODUCTS ASSOCIATION The lead voice in Canberra on policy affecting forest, wood and paper products industries. AFPA strives to deliver benefits for the complete industry value chain including those involved in: • Forest growing • Harvest and haulage • Sawmilling and other wood processing • Pulp and paper processing • Forest product exporting
Join us today and share the benefits Call (02) 6285 3833
ISSUE 325 | PAGE 5
TIMBER PRESERVATION
Options considered on TPAA’s ongoing treatment plant registration and process From P 4
“Jack Norton will do an exceptional job as TPAA national secretary. He has my complete and total support. “As a person who has already made many contributions to our industry sector, Jack has now topped them by stepping up when needed.” Jack Norton has been actively involved in wood protection related research for more than 40 years, including the development of standards and specifications related to wood protection. He is also well known for training timber treatment plant operators and particularly for being responsible for implementation of the Timber Utilisation and Marketing Act (TUMA) until it was repealed in 2010.
Mr Norton also has an enviable international reputation due to his international aid consultancies and he is immediate past president of the International Research Group on Wood Protection. Wayne Lewis said TPAA was at the crossroads. At a teleconference on June 23 it was agreed the council should consider its strategy and well as its structure and come up with a program to achieve this. There was a consensus overview that council needed further time to consider all the possible options for TPAA’s ongoing participation in treatment plant registration and its process. This matter was referred to the council working group and preparation of a recommendation as part of the
plan for TPAA will be presented at the next council meeting. Typically, Mr Norton’s first message as TPAA national secretary was one of praise and acknowledgement to David Marlay. “Thanks David for your contribution over the past 12 months and thanks for caring about the industry. I really appreciate the effort you have put into TPAA and hope/ask that you stay involved after a wellearned rest.”
New list of contacts for association Former national secretary and editor of the TPAA’s on-line Contact newsletter Doug Howick
endorsed Mr Norton’s words of appreciation for Mr Marlay. Mr Howick provided a list of contacts, effective from July 1: TPAA national office, 54 Montpelier Street, Wilston, Qld 4051. Tel: 0418 989 398. Email: tpaa@tpaa.com.au Web: www. tpaa.com.au National secretary, Jack Norton. Mob: 0418 989 398. Email: tpaa@tpaa.com.au National president Wayne Lewis. Mob: 0437 861 264. Email: wayne_lewis@koppers. com.au ‘Contact’ newsletter editor Doug Howick. Mob: 0428 380 838. Email: doug@tpaa.com.au TPAA treatment plant register registrar Doug Howick, 3, Wright Street, Brighton Vic 3186. Tel: +613 9596 8166. Email: doug@ tpaa.com.au
Range of options require minimal documentation
From P 3
paper products, and furniture components. A seminary entry fee of $495 provided a hard copy importers’ resource package. “Discussions at the seminars related back to the supply chain, either in Malaysia, Indonesia or America, and the due diligence that would be acceptable,” Mr Mitchell said.
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| ISSUE 325
“Delegates were given a range of options they can follow. These require minimal documentation and information gathering. “Export permits are a pretty straightforward process.” Mr Mitchell emphasised there would be an 18-month education period after November 30. “The Department of Agriculture will be running information seminars and the Timber
Development Association will be helping the roll-out of the program.” Looking at regulations abroad, Japan, the world’s fourth-largest buyer of timber products, is considering introducing new laws and stricter oversight to stamp out imports of illegally logged wood. The country’s laws do not require private buyers of foreign
timber to ensure it is legally logged nor do they provide for penalties for failing to do so. This has led to illegally cut wood in Russia being exported to Japan by way of Chinese processing plants and Japan’s reliance on Russian wood for furniture, flooring and construction materials has set off a boom in illegal logging in Russia’s Far East.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Partnership funds revival and transfer of national wood collection to Canberra
A PARTNERSHIP between CSIRO, Forest and Wood Products Australia and the Gottstein Trust has revived the national wood collection and made it in a fit state for inclusion in the CSIRO Collections of National Significance. The partnership provided funds for Dr Jugo Ilic, formerly of CSIRO and currently running the consultancy Know Your Wood, to prepare the collection for transfer to Canberra in order to co-locate this internationally significant collection within the biological collections unit of CSIRO. “The Dadswell Memorial Wood Collection was collated over seven decades to make it the largest wood collection in the southern hemisphere and the third largest in the world,” explained Dr Ilic. “With the changes in CSIRO’s research priorities the future of the collection was unclear, and uncertain,” he said. “I’m thankful that the CSIRO and the Australian forest and wood products industry, through FWPA and the Gottstein Trust, formed a coalition to prepare the wood collection for functional access and transfer to Canberra.
Allows a master collection index to be developed “The wood collection required much updating in terms of digitalising much of the information and ensuring that this information could be linked to an on-line resource – the Atlas of Living Australia.” The funding provided by the three organisations allows a master collection index to be developed that provides a means of linking collection information from scans of the original log books, the original index cards, 41,600 wood specimen photos and 4500 images of microscope slides for ready reference.
Know your wood .. Jugo Ilic, former CSIRO curator of the Wood Collection
The slide images have been forwarded for inclusion in the InsideWood database maintained by North Carolina, USA, for use by wood researchers worldwide.
“I understand that the transfer of the wood collection, which takes up about two normal size bedrooms, will be happening soon,” Dr Ilic said. “I have been in touch with
the biological collections unit in Canberra and look forward to assisting them with the move.” FWPA managing director Ric Sinclair said both FWPA and the Gottstein Trust were proud to have been associated with this significant project. “It’s important not to throw out the baby with the bath water – with the decline in investment in wood research over recent years it is essential that Australia maintains a credible wood collection for both national and international reference and research purposes,” Mr Sinclair said.
Wood Protection
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Contact the Australian Lonza team for full details of the Lonza value package. phone:1300 650 636 ISSUE 325 | PAGE 7
EVENTS
Tumut workshop focuses on major training changes in the forest sector
Tours to major production sites and plantation areas
MAJOR changes unfolding in the vocational education and training sector and the continuing challenges facing the timber industry will be addressed at the Australian Timber Trainers Association annual workshop at Tumut, NSW, on July 28 and 30. The opening address will be delivered by Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture Senator Richard Colbeck and will include a range of presentations and workshop sessions led by industry experts, government representatives and skills council staff. ATTA secretary David McElvenny said there had been many developments in the timber industry and education sector since the Sunshine Coast workshop last year .. “so we’ll be making the most of the crisp,
a group session in the new unit of competency – TAELLN411 address adult language, literacy and numeracy skills. Participants who attend this session and complete the follow-up assignments in the workplace will be given a statement of attainment by Workspace Training. Workshop participants will be able to complete this unit for the special price of $120, which includes lunch.
Dean Page, the manager of the NSW Forestry Corporation’s Blowering Nursery at Tumut in southwest New South Wales examines plantation seedlings.
clear-thinking Snowy Mountains air to examine the implications for timber trainers.” Workshop lead organiser
info@forestry.org.au | www.forestry.org.au PAGE 8
| ISSUE 325
Adam Farquharson, who is head of forestry at the Forest Industry Training Centre, a division of the TAFE NSW Riverina Institute, based at the Tumut campus, has arranged tours to major production sites and forest areas in the region. These include the NSW Forestry Corporation’s Blowering Nursery, Carabost forest, Hyne’s Tumbarumba sawmill and Visy Pulp and Paper. There will also be a presentation of TAFE’s ‘connected classroom’, showcasing various on-line and remote delivery techniques. Conference highlights include: • Presentations and discussions on the dramatic changes currently taking place in the VET system. • Training package updates, and structure of the new ‘streamlined’ competency units. • Panel discussion on how ‘industry’ consults with industry skills councils. • Finding new opportunities for trainers working in thin markets. • Designing lesson plans. • Implementing and validating assessment processes. Workshop participants staying on for the fourth day can attend
Finding new opportunities for trainers In addition to the guest presentations, workshops and site tours, there will be the usual events that make each year’s conference a happy and rewarding experience. These include the evening auction on Day 1, the Stihl presentation from Rob Baker on Day 2 and the general get-togethers and social networking in between times each day. Because there is no accommodation available at the workshop venue the Tumut RSL Club special rates have been offered by two nearby motels – the Ashton Townhouse Motel & Suites, 124 Wynyard Street ($95 for a single standard room); and the Best Western Motel Farrington, 71-73 Capper Street ($115 for a single standard room). Both of these motels are a short walk from the venue. The workshop registration fee is $495 for ATTA members and $675 for non-members. Note that the ATTA membership fee is $75. Contact ATTA secretary David McElvenny, PO Box 1954 Strawberry Hills, NSW, 2012. Mob: 0403 570 673. Email: secretary@atta.org.au Web: www.atta.org.au
INDUSTRY NEWS
Fewer inuries .. Forestry Corporation of NSW CEO Nick Roberts (left) and acting general manager of WorkCover NSW’s work health and safety division Peter Dunphy at the safety partnership renewal ceremony.
Reduction in injury claims strengthens safety partnership
THE Forestry Corporation of NSW has renewed its safety partnership with WorkCover NSW following a 35% reduction in injury claims since the first partnership was signed in 2011. Under the renewed agreement, the organisations will conduct further industry-specific training programs, and have made a commitment to better information sharing. The Eden community has been a strong advocate for safety in the industry, and has paid tribute to more than 100 Australian workers killed on the job through the National Timber Workers Memorial, which has been funded and maintained by local residents since 2008.
Partnership vital component of health and safety Over the past five years, 755 injuries in the NSW forestry industry have cost the Workers Compensation Scheme more than $8.369 million. Common workplace injuries include body stressing, falls, trips and slips and being hit by moving objects, while forest logging contractors are over-represented in truck rollover crash statistics.
Forestry Corporation CEO Nick Roberts said the partnership was a vital component of health and safety in an industry with unique risks and hazards. “Forestry Corporation’s workforce is diverse and mobile, with staff and contractors involved in activities ranging from setting and monitoring remote wildlife traps, through to large-scale tree felling and timber hauling operations and fire fighting,” Mr Roberts said. “By improving dialogue and cooperation between Forestry Corporation and WorkCover, we expect this partnership will drive new ideas and practical solutions to minimise the risks involved in forestry work. “We’re already working together on a safety training program specifically tailored to log truck drivers and we hope the partnership will deliver many more practical initiatives that will make for a safer workplace for all forestry employees.” “This initiative is another example of the state government’s commitment to developing sustainable workplace safety outcomes in New South Wales which get workers home safely and make businesses more productive,” Mr Dunphy said.
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ISSUE 325 | PAGE 9
INDUSTRY NEWS
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www.jazcorpaustralia.com.au PAGE 1 0 | ISSUE 325
Group ‘fit for purpose’ at Brisbane treaters’ forum
A MEETING of the Queensland timber preservation group in Brisbane last week “progressed attention” on quality systems and discussed how a state government research project might link into Timber Queensland’s wood treatment policies. • Members of the group conferring at Timber Queensland offices included, seated, Jack Norton (chairman) and TPAA national secretary, Nick Livanes, national business development manager, Osmose Australia, and Gerry Gardiner, director, Itreat Timber, Narangba; and standing, Greg Jensen, commercial and regulatory manager, Lonza Wood Protection (Aust), Tim Evans, business development, Independent Verification Services, Geoff Gibson, state manager, sales and distribution, Hyne, and Gary Hopewell, principal scientist, process and product development, DAFF. Timber Queensland has completed a major review of its technical data sheets prepared by Colin MacKenzie, manager, timber application and use. “These are the go-to documents for building professionals and home
handymen who need timber related advice,” TQ CEO Rod McInnes said. The 30-plus data sheets cover a range of technical topics, all referenced by building authorities and Australia’s leading timber processors, fabricators and manufacturers. Architects, building designers, engineers, certifiers, builders, handymen and homeowners all refer to the documents for expert, straight-forward and accurate advice that reflects Australian standards, state and national building codes and current best practice. “This makes the right selection, specification and use of timber and timber products so much easier,” Mr McInnes said. “Most importantly they are developed in Queensland for Queensland applications – information that cannot be obtained elsewhere.” The revised technical data sheets (TQ members only) are available on TQ’s website. A full set of the data sheets is available for purchase on line at www.timberqueensland.com.au
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ENGINEERED WOOD
Engineered wood technology reduces apartment build time
By PHILIP HOPKINS
A FIVE-storey apartment building in Parkville, Melbourne, is one out of the ordinary: it is made predominantly from wood. Built by Australand Property Group, the apartment block marks the latest stage in timber’s revolutionary return as a construction material for larger buildings. In this case, an engineered wood product has been used – plantation pine made into pre-fabricated shapes in a factory. The components must be designed and manufactured with extraordinary accuracy, otherwise they will not fit when they are assembled on site. Australand has developed its own approach to building in timber. They call it hybrid construction, and the innovation starts with the labour force. The company uses the tradesmen
viable. Other potential markets are student accommodation, low-cost housing, health and aged care, and government and education buildings.”
Structural steel was kept to a minimum
Innovation .. plantation pine made into pre-fabricated shapes in a factory were used on the five-storey Parkville apartment building in Melbourne.
that build houses in the suburbs, not the full commercial force used on most major projects. This workforce is trained in commercial disciplines – professional on-site management, procurement methodologies and especially better safety. The result?
“We are saving on average, on a per apartment basis, up to 25% on built costs over conventional concrete,” says Australand’s estimating manager Kase Jong. “That could mean more affordable housing in middle suburbs where concrete construction is not economically
The Parkville project has 57 apartments, one basement car parking level, and a gross building area of 5100 sq m. The entire building was designed around pre-fabricated walls, floors and roof trusses. The apartments were stacked to create an efficient grid system and transfer structural loads. The centralised lifts and stairs created a strong core and helped provide bracing. A slab podium was placed Cont P 12
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Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia Unit 3, 106 Fison Ave West, Eagle Farm 4009 Qld Tel: 61 7 3250 3700 Fax: 61 7 3252 4769 Email: inbox@ewp.asn.au Web: www.ewp.asn.au
ISSUE 325 | PAGE 1 1
ENGINEERED WOOD
Walls wrapped in fire-rated plasterboard satisfied fire and acoustic requirements From P 11
over the car park. Structural steel was kept to a minimum at the ground floor to support any cantilevers above. The building was 70% wrapped in phynolicrendered foam board, with the balance clad in aluminium and brickwork at ground level. “You can’t tell the building is light weight,” Mr Jong said. The 16 mm walls were wrapped in fire-rated plasterboard, which satisfied both fire and acoustic requirements, while 10.38 mm laminated glass catered exceeded acoustic requirements. Sprinklers were also installed – “definitely the way to go above five storeys,” Mr Jong said. Safety was a prime driver. The risk of workers falling from height at each level was a big issue. The solution was to create flooring that could be built off site and installed in modules – the cassette flooring system. Each
Panel technology .. three-bedroom house to lock-up stage in six days.
floor was about 850 sq m, with 75 cassettes put into place with mobile cranes. It took eight days to get the floor ready to land a cassette, but one-and-a-half days to land the cassettes and one day extra to lay the Promat sheet flooring – a cycle of 11 days per floor. Australand did not allow anyone on deck until the whole area had been installed. While it was a 12-month build
Being a TABMA member gives you: • Group buying discounts • Assistance with the placement of trainees & apprentices • CoC certification advice • Industry specific staff recruitment at competitive rates • National networking opportunities • An exclusive trade credit insurance plan • Technical advice and assistance • Industrial relations advice • WH&S audits • Annual Timber Industry Dinner Call 1800 822 621 for membership enquiries PAGE 1 2 | ISSUE 325
program, the actual structure construction time was 12 weeks, including roof trusses and cassettes. Mr Jong estimated that the process saved a week per floor, saving a month in the whole project. Using the cassette floors, an added advantage was that within 24 hours, workers could start putting in the services as well. Figures show the savings in weight. The basement and suspended slab consisted of 400 cub m of concrete, yet in the rest of the building – walls and floors for the other five levels – there were just under 500 cub m of timber. In contrast, the latest engineered-timber project by Lend Lease – the library and community centre, The Library at the Dock, in Melbourne’s Docklands – is made from crosslaminated timber imported from Austria. CLT is produced from layers of softwood arranged at right angles on top of each other and glued together in large panels. The library and community centre [award-winning Clare Design were design architects and Hayball the architect of record] involved an innovative combination of CLT and recycled hardwood. The library is a three-storey building on a rectangular (1000 cub m, 3000 sq m over three floors) site on an old wharf. Research found that a CLT structure would be two-thirds
the weight of a conventional building of the same size. No expensive concrete piling was needed as the wharf, which had been designed for crane loads, already had ironbark piles. However a concrete ground floor slab was used to ensure the building’s timber was kept clear of moisture. Lend Lease’s Victoria Harbour project director Claire Johnston said construction of The Library at the Dock required a much smaller workforce than a similar building in concrete, and created less mess. Unlike Lend Lease’s nearby 10-storey CLT Forte building, which is almost fully clad in recycled aluminium panels, timber is an external display feature in the library, with CLT, glulam beams and recycled hardwood in evidence.
Combination of CLT and recycled hardwood The building, a post and beam construction, encloses a wide open space. Hayball director David Tweedie said the effective span was 4 m in one direction and 6 m in the other. A limited amount of CLT is a feature – on the stairs, for example – as are glue-laminated columns, where the fibres are aligned in one direction to take the load. The beauty of the recycled hardwood, both veneer and solid, is a feature of the internal design. Tallowwood, spotted gum and ironbark are used. Externally, high quality class 1 hardwoods that will weather well were used as cladding. The timber will grey with weathering, but slightly differently according to the species and degree of exposure. On the facades, finer and wider boards, and a mix of species, were used.
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ISSUE 325 | PAGE 1 3
INDUSTRY NEWS
We’re headin’ south – and we’re doing it for the kids
An activist attaches himself to forest machinery in a coupe at Dover, south of the Huon Valley.
Brisbane Timber Industry Hoo-Hoo Club 218 has entered the 2014 Variety Club of Queensland Bush Bash to again raise funds for disadvantaged children – heading south in August in the club’s veteran Bush Bash performer, a 1977 Holden Kingswood. Already, the club’s entry in Variety’s 25th anniversary event has raised more than $8000 from kind sponsors. Club 218 acknowledge the generous support of Forest and Wood Products Australia and the Australian Forest Products Association. The Hoo-Hoo Bush Bash team will distribute more than 300 industry promotional bags to schools along the route which begins in the capital of Cane Toad kingdom at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane and finishes 10 days later in the heart of Cockroach country at Moore Park in Sydney. Please support Brisbane Hoo-Hoo Club 218’s effort so we can enrich the lives of sick and needy children. Sponsorship will attract wide media coverage and is tax deductible. Sponsorship so far has reached more than $12,000. Donate on-line. https://2014bash.everydayhero.com/au/tim All sponsorships will be recognised.
For more information and to discuss sponsorship options contact committee members: Don Towerton 0428 745 455, Tim Evans 0417 726 741 or Jim Bowden 0401 312 087. PAGE 1 4 | ISSUE 325
State clamps down on protestors in Tasmanian forests TASMANIA’S Forest Industries Association has thrown its weight behind the state government’s bid to clamp down on protesters. The government wants to introduce new mandatory penalties including on-the-spot fines and minimum prison terms for protesters who trespass on workplaces, says an ABC News report. It used its numbers in the Lower House last week to force an early vote on the bill. Attorney-General Vanessa Goodwin said the government has an electoral mandate. “(This) was something that we took to the election and we intend to deliver,” Ms Goodwin said. The Forest Industries Association’s Terry Edwards supports the government.
Vanessa Goodwin
Terry Edwards
“In some ways, maybe they don’t go far enough,” he said. “People talk about people’s freedom of speech and civil rights, but what about the civil rights of employees and contractors prevented from working?” The proposal has been slammed by the Law Society, unions, Labor and the Greens as “anti-democratic”. The bill will be considered by the Upper House next month.
SWI research partnership extended
SOLID Wood Innovation, the research partnership servicing the NZ appearance wood manufacturing sector and the Australian structural wood manufacturers, has been successful in extending its cofunding contract with the NZ Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for a further two years. Shareholders and stakeholders in SWI have committed funds to extend the
current research program with a view to further deployment of the various technologies that SWI has developed and to extending these technologies into new applications. Areas of research include advanced scanning technologies for increased lumber recovery, treatment and coating systems for improved solid wood performance, and more efficient energy use in manufacturing.
FOREST CERTIFICATION
VicForests given FSC roadmap
‘Health check’ provides information to forest managers
THE Forest Stewardship Council Australia says VicForests’ desire to achieve FSC certification reflects the growing consumer and business demand for FSC certified products. “Due to market demands, nonFSC certified forests are being forced out of many markets locally and internationally, so gaining FSC certification provides an opportunity for forest managers to grow their market share,” says FSC Australia CEO Natalie Reynolds.
Great example of the FSC system at work “Both natural and plantation forest managers in Australia are being driven to demonstrate compliance with FSC, and in doing so they demonstrate economic, environmental and
social issues are rigorously taken into account in their operations.” The results of the preliminary assessment provided to VicForests by the FSC’s internationally accredited auditor SCS Global Services, provides a preliminary judgment of what the possible major or minor non-conformance areas would be if VicForests was to apply for full FSC forest management certification or to be able to have its wood products classified as ‘FSC Controlled Wood’. A preliminary assessment is a ‘health check’ providing information to forest managers which is required before a certification process is entered into. Ms Reynolds said should VicForests wish to meet either standard, significant changes in forest management practices were required. “The preliminary assessment
Natalie Reynolds: growing market share with FSC.
highlights areas of nonconformance against both full forest management certification and FSC controlled wood,” she said. “Vic Forests has a roadmap now of what it needs to do to achieve full FSC certification; this process of continual improvement is the very foundation tenant of FSC.
“The results of this preassessment are a great example of the FSC system at work. “Forest Managers that are yet to meet the FSC’s rigorous standards are provided with a roadmap by auditors and are encouraged to continue along their journey to economic, environmental and social responsibility.” Ms Reynolds said FCS Australia encouraged all stakeholders with an interest in the area managed by VicForests to continue to provide feedback to the auditors, which would enable them to conduct thorough assessments going forward.” In its report, SCS Global Services says central and positive to the ‘bottom line’ outcome of this pre-assessment is VicForests’ current path of instituting changes in its approach to managing the forest estate.
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INTERNATIONAL FOCUS
Coopered timber column bowls them over at Boston art gallery
Striking installation showcases design for massive wood buildings NEW Hampshire, USA, architect Tim Olson has a problem. He and a friend have screwed together the first few pieces of a design project called the Coopered Column, backwards. “We’re looking at the plan upside down and assembling it, so we swapped the pieces,” he says laughing. It’s understandable: there are 118 pieces – each one a big, meaty timber – and 250 screws to hold it all together. The coopered column is one of four striking installations in an exhibit that has opened in the Boston Society of Architects’ gallery. There’s a system of curved flooring that you can actually walk on, a mass of thick interlocking wooden peaks or gables, and a series of impossibly curved two-by-fours. The purpose of the exhibit is to showcase designs that could incorporate the use of more wood in massive buildings, replacing steel and concrete. Olson’s column, if you can call it that, looks a like a cone turned upside down, or a bowl. The upturned lip juts out from around a corner of the gallery at an improbable angle. It has this eccentric shape
Coopered column .. design that could be used to incorporate more wood in massive buildings, replacing steel and concrete.
– one end is low, around knee height, and the other side is around six feet tall. “That’s where it gets scary,” says Olson, “I don’t know if you ever work on your car, but I get that feeling whenever I go under my car when it’s up on a block or something. It’s like there’s something heavy over you, it definitely gives you this kind of visceral reaction.” That reaction is heightened when you know it had to be carefully balanced to keep from tipping over. The column weighs about 1360 kg, and the long protruding lip of the bowl was designed in computer models to be stabilised with steel counter-
weights concealed in the timbers of the low end. The first step was putting together the ‘keystone’ piece, after first assembling it backwards. “The computer model as far as I’m concerned is junk now,” says Olson who after he finished assembling it for opening day found that the far end was actually being pulled off the floor by a few inches. “It’s really close to its balance point, I can unweight the end if I pull on it.” For safety’s sake, Olson added more weight to the base to keep the piece’s foot on the floor. Each piece in the exhibit is an art project, but is trying to prove
some design theory. Olson calls his bowl a column because that was his original idea, a wooden column that could handle the weight of a sky-scraper. He deformed the column into a bowl shape to show how the design could handle stresses it would take to hold up a building. “It was creaking a bit actually in the gallery, when we were done with it,” he explains, “You’d be cleaning up and you’d hear ‘pop’ and you think it’s settling into where it wants to be.” He calls it coopered because it borrows from the design of a barrel, with the interlocking timbers acting like staves, and a ‘ring’ of screws holding it together mimic the ‘cooper’ of a barrel, or the metal band. Making big buildings out of wood is a trendy idea. “Steel represents about 3% of man’s greenhouse emissions, and concrete is over 5%,” says Mike Green, a New York architect. He estimates that every 20-storeyy building made out of wood instead of steel or concrete saves around 4300 tonnes of carbon, “equivalent to about 900 cars removed from the road in one year”.
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PAGE 1 6 | ISSUE 325
Engineered Timber Products
INTERNATIONAL FOCUS
Indonesia ‘outstrips’ Brazil in forest loss despite moratorium
INDONESIA has for the first time surpassed Brazil in clearing tropical forests and losses are accelerating despite a 2011 moratorium meant to protect wildlife and combat climate change, scientists were quoted in a Reuters report. Indonesia’s losses of virgin forests totalled 60,000 sq km from 2000 to 2012, partly to make way for palm oil plantations and other farms, says a scientific study which shows the pace of losses has increased. “By 2012, annual primary forest loss in Indonesia was estimated to be higher than in Brazil,” where clearance of the Amazon basin has usually accounted for the biggest losses, the scientists wrote in the journal Nature Climate Change. Deforestation in Indonesia in
Clearing the way .. loading logs for river transport in the central Kalimantan region of Indonesian Borneo.
2012 alone was 8400 sq km versus 4600 sq km in Brazil, which has managed to reduce losses in recent years, the report said. “We need to increase the law enforcement, the control
in the area itself,” said Belinda Margono, lead author of the study at the University of Maryland in the US and who also works as an official at the Indonesian forestry ministry. Indonesia imposed a
moratorium on forest clearance in 2011, partly to slow losses that are ruining habitats of orangutans, Sumatran tigers and other wildlife. Norway has also promised $1 billion to Jakarta if it slows forest losses. “It seems that the moratorium has not had its intended effect,” the scientists wrote. Other studies have also found large forests losses in Indonesia, but the recent findings focus only on the most important virgin forests, excluding plantations that can re-grow quickly. Norway, whose $1 billion pledge is part of a plan to slow climate change around the world, said the findings strengthened reasons for the program. [Since then Norway has all but walked away from its ‘pledge’].
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ON THE ROAD
Like good Italian wine, Jim’s iconic Fiat is aging gracefully
LIKE a good Italian wine, the 1971 Fiat 124 coupé is aging gracefully in Jim Berry’s Stone’s Corner workshop in Brisbane. And like brushing away the dust and turning an aging bottle of vino in the cellar, Jim, a former racing driver, has maintained the machine’s excellence and glory. He has “10 or more” veteran Fiats “stashed away in various places”, but Jim most likely will drive his yellow che bella mezzo to the Fiat Car Club of Queensland’s 50th anniversary dinner to be held at the Sorrento Lounge in Deagon in August. In his 70th year, Jim holds the second longest continual membership of the club and is proud to be its patron. The club is made up of more than 200 enthusiasts of the Italian marque from all over Queensland and interstate with many who have moved abroad retaining their membership.
Fell in love with his first Fiat in 1970 Jim Berry’s working life has revolved around electronics and he builds clutches for racing cars at his workshop where he also supplies “genuine” Italian car parts. Jim was a popular racing driver in the 60s and 70s, competing in Brisbane and at Sydney circuits such as Amaroo Park, which has hosted the Australian Touring Car Championships, Formula 5000 and other historic events. He found his first Fiat in 1970, fell in love with it and has been a Fiat affectionado ever since. “Its engine sound like no other,” he says. “So let’s take a spin.” I climbed into the car as the throaty sound of the four cylinder, twin overhead cam engine began to throb. “We’ll take a few fast turns around the traffic islands and rev it up a bit,” said Jim who
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Patron of the Fiat Car Club of Queensland and former racing driver Jim Berry with his iconic Fiat 124 BC coupé outside his workshop at Stone’s Corner in Brisbane.
was in agreement that the two septuagenarians on board were also aging gracefully. “You know, the Americans think Henry Ford invented the car, but the Europeans were building cars well before that,” Jim insisted. “Take Fiat, and a few other European car makers – how many manufacturers today can say their companies are still in the hands of the founding
families?” We recalled that Giovanni Agnelli, with several investors, founded the Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (FIAT) factory in Turin in 1899. Jim’s Fiat 124 BC coupé is one of three generations produced by Fiat from 1967 to 1975 and deigned by ex-Ferrari engineer Aurelio Lampredi. For the mechanically-minded, the first generation 124 AC
Vintage .. on display at a Fiat Car Club rally a veteran Fiat, circa. 1915.
featured a 1438 cc engine, which grew to 1608 cc in the second BC generation and then 1756 cc in the third, the CC. Jim’s all-time car racing hero is Juan Fangio, the Argentineborn son of Italian immigrants, who is perhaps the world’s most successful racing driver. “The ‘maestro’ drove Maseratis, but I reckon he also had a few Fiats stashed away somewhere.”
Fiats stashed away in various places Another son of Italian migrants, Queensland-born Giancarlo Nardo, the president of the Fiat Car Club, enjoys his role. “It’s like having a large, extended family where we can get together a couple of times a month and catch up with each other. “Some families have three generations of members, who are all still participating in club activities. Many of them have been in the club for decades.” It was time to farewell Jim Berry who went back to his work bench. At the end of the day he was off to Stanthorpe to join his wife Colleen who had gone ahead to the farm house they are renovating on the Granite Belt. “It’s a great spot for visits from our children and grandchildren,” he said. Colleen shares her husband’s Cont P 21
Fiat enthusiasts like large extended family
ON THE ROAD
“Ready for a spin?” asks Fiat Car Club patron Jim Berry. From P 20
love of cars and what make them tick. She raced Fiats in hill climbs at Mount Cotton. “She was pretty quick for a girl,” Jim said. “Oops, that sounded like a comment from a misogynist. It wasn’t meant to be. Colleen will forgive me.” Colleen, like Jim, loves all things Italian. On occasion, she runs special tours into Italy and delights in visits to Fiat’s re-built Lingotto headquarters in Turin. The old building was completed
in 1923. Unlike any other automobile factory, it featured a spiral assembly line that moved up through the building to a concrete-banked rooftop test track, which is still there. The Fiat Car Club’s 50th anniversary function will be held on Saturday, August 9, at the Sorrento Reception Lounge, 140 Braun Street, Deagon, starting at 7 pm. Tickets are available on the club’s website www.fiat.org. au Contact Giancarlo Nardo on 0422 111 030.
Severe fires hit Canada’s northwest
ONE of the worst fire seasons ever in Canada’s northwest territories has closed down a major hydroelectric plant and forced people in a small community from their homes. Officials have logged 123 forest fires this season, and at least 92 are still burning. Most are caused by lightning striking hot, dry forests, which haven’t had significant rain since the spring snow melt. “We’re going through a period of extreme burning conditions across most of the southern region,” Bill Mawdsley, director
of forest management with the Department of Environment, said. “We’re observing extreme drought. Everything right from the mineral soil right to the top of the trees is burning.” The first priority for fire crews is a wildfire burning out of control near the tiny community of Kakisa, which has a population of 45. People were forced out of their homes, to Hay River, over the weekend as fire crews, some from Alberta and Saskatchewan, arrived.
Contact Timber & Forestry Enews Tel: +61 401 312 087 cancon@bigpond.net.au
ISSUE 325 | PAGE 1 9
297x210mm Vertical 254x93mm Horizontal 125x190mm Vertical 125x93mm Horizontal 73x190mm Horizontal 73x190mm Vertical 140x44.5mm 110 Vertical 34x44.5mm
297x210mm Vertical 254x93mm Horizontal 125x190mm Vertical 125x93mm Horizontal 51x93mm
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