EPA 'out of control' say timber workers fearing for their jobs

Delegates from the CFMEU were responding this week to recent decisions by the EPA over protections for greater gliders in South Coast forests.

Forestry Corporation practices have been under investigation since August 2023, when EPA officers found a dead glider about 50 metres from harvesting operations in Tallaganda State Forest, west of Braidwood.

A series of stop-work orders followed, with the watchdog saying it lacked confidence in the corporation's habitat surveys, which were meant to ensure the protection of den trees and 50-metres of bush around each one.

Then at the beginning of February, EPA announced "new protections for endangered greater gliders" by stating point-in-time surveys were "unreliable" and the populations would be "assumed" as long as Forestry Corp retained a set number of larger trees capable of providing dens.

Conservationists calling for compulsory night-time surveys when the gliders were active were outraged at what they said was actually the removal of adequate protections.

Just a week later, the EPA changed its tune again, re-announcing the rules with the inclusion of a requirement for night-time surveys.

CFMEU delegate for the Eden timber mill Todd Lyons said the stress among industry workers was clear - many of whom were fearing for their jobs.

He was concerned that continually shifting work practices to appease the regulator was onerous and could result in job losses.

"Tallaganda is just the start of it," he said.

"The EPA says one thing, then a month later they change the rules again. I can see the drivers are stressing out and we're all worried about our jobs.

"I believe there are good rules in place and I love animals. We really need to be talking to government and working together to make it work," he said.

CFMEU manufacturing division state secretary Alison Rudman said the EPA was "out of control".

"We have a regulator out of control and making capricious decisions," she said.

"And on the other hand Forestry is trying to make sense of all these changes.

"The work being performed hasn't changed, why do the rules keep changing?" she said.

"We absolutely have concerns that jobs are on the line, and more and more towns are staring down the barrel of job losses."

Ms Rudman said the concern wasn't restricted to loggers.

"It's not just workers at the mill either - they are married to teachers, to doctors. This is causing a huge amount of uncertainty.

"And it is being driven by a regulator who seems to feel they're tasked with making policy."

Instead, Ms Rudman concurred with My Lyons and said the government needed to step in and work more closely with the industry to make sure there were good results for jobs as well as for the environment.

"We don't have to choose - environment and animals, or jobs. They are both important.

"But at the moment they seem to be making decisions without any evidence or proper consultation."

Meanwhile, even conservationists have taken issue with the EPA's rules, saying they don't go far enough in protecting the endangered gliders and that the regulator was "capitulating to Forestry again".

Scott Daines of South East Forest Rescue said the new rules for nocturnal surveys only required Forestry workers to use spotlights from forest roads over two nights to identify den trees.

"This method will find only a fraction of the den trees that are needed for the species' survival," Mr Daines said.

"Unfortunately the EPA seems to think that gliders all live next to a road.

"It appears the EPA is going to capitulate to Forestry again, at the expense of the endangered species they are meant to be protecting.

"We are extremely disappointed with this decision and shows they have not learnt from the debacle of two weeks ago.

"Chris Minns and Penny Sharpe need to step up and get tough with Forestry and allow the EPA to actually protect gliders or risk being remembered as species killers."