---
title: Labor doesn’t commit to native forest logging ban
description: The Albanese government has rejected an internal push to ban native forest logging, instead committing to rewrite the three-decades-old national forest policy.
---
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# Labor doesn’t commit to native forest logging ban
Friday, 18 August 2023
The Albanese government has rejected an internal push to ban native forest logging, instead committing to rewrite the three-decades-old national forest policy statement this term. Labor Environment Action Network spokesperson, Felicity Wade, praised the commitment but labelled native forest logging a “travesty” in a speech to Labor’s national conference on Thursday.
Meanwhile, thousands of environmental and union protesters have marched on Labor's national conference in Brisbane in protest of climate change, the housing crisis and worker safety.
Experts are warning Australia's most popular carbon credit scheme Human Induced Regeneration, which pays landholders to allow forests to regenerate, is not performing to standard. An estimated 80 per cent of projects have had tree cover either not improve or diminish.
**Top stories:**
[Labor rejects ban on native forest logging as PM accuses Greens of hypocrisy on housing](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/17/alp-national-conference-labor-rejects-push-to-ban-native-forest-logging-as-pm-lambasts-greens-over-housing-bill)
According to another successful amendment, the forest policy statement will be revamped to “ensure the application of national environmental standards to Australia’s native forests.”
[Thousands of environmental and union protesters gather in Brisbane as Labor holds its first national conference since Julia Gillard](https://app.meltwater.com/mwTransition?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2F2023-08-17%2Fqld-cfmeu-protesters-construction-alp-conference-get-up-labor%2F102740274&urlCategories=newsLtd&analytics=false&documentId=YxgsF4vvWf3PEN9ViUC9NZF1e0E&transitionToken=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJob3N0bmFtZSI6Ind3dy5hYmMubmV0LmF1In0.G6KfJQf9DTg3BPfDRnL8aNk-KGOfbZc12czKSTcqj9BstN0qGFyj-TGroGNT_097qH1_WRMtfq5v4vGs7BrXgQ)
GetUp and Construction Forestry Maritime Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) members headed to the party's decision-making forum in South Brisbane today, in protest of climate change, the housing crisis and worker safety.
[Australia's most popular carbon credit scheme, Human Induced Regeneration, questioned by experts](https://app.meltwater.com/mwTransition?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2F2023-08-18%2Fexperts-criticise-carbon-offset-scheme-730%2F102736696&urlCategories=newsLtd&analytics=false&documentId=P77qbGK4O9DVBKjpCQ5smL8d_J8&transitionToken=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJob3N0bmFtZSI6Ind3dy5hYmMubmV0LmF1In0.G6KfJQf9DTg3BPfDRnL8aNk-KGOfbZc12czKSTcqj9BstN0qGFyj-TGroGNT_097qH1_WRMtfq5v4vGs7BrXgQ)
Experts are warning Australia's most popular carbon credit scheme, which pays landholders to allow forests to regenerate, is not performing to standard.
[Threats mounting for the last of Sydney’s healthy koala population](https://app.meltwater.com/mwTransition?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smh.com.au%2Fenvironment%2Fconservation%2Fthreats-mounting-for-the-last-of-sydney-s-healthy-koala-population-20230815-p5dwjr.html&urlCategories=newsLtd&analytics=false&documentId=wyOjZ8oEYbC7ul5CvPfIUL64Dh4&transitionToken=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJob3N0bmFtZSI6Ind3dy5zbWguY29tLmF1In0.dLrErlrnr5ygrw6r9BmLnD1I0aNYVH93_YJo5EofLTHngNTsac5xMwvusd5MeI2-ZEAd-GcYmYdqdbniemYuyQ)
Members of one of the healthiest koala populations in Sydney are dying at an alarming rate, as chlamydia-infected koalas and housing development inch closer to their habitat.
[Coal-fired closure delay sparks calls that Australia's 'running out of runway' for green energy targets](https://app.meltwater.com/mwTransition?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2F2023-08-18%2Fcoal-closure-delayed-as-australia-runs-out-of-time%2F102743928&urlCategories=newsLtd&analytics=false&documentId=WpFtWDKsOw0rxyjjqTaTp381rBw&transitionToken=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJob3N0bmFtZSI6Ind3dy5hYmMubmV0LmF1In0.G6KfJQf9DTg3BPfDRnL8aNk-KGOfbZc12czKSTcqj9BstN0qGFyj-TGroGNT_097qH1_WRMtfq5v4vGs7BrXgQ)
Across Australia, governments have set ambitious goals for turning their power systems green. But a decision to keep a coal plant running longer suggests the rhetoric is not matched by the reality.
[BOM warns of potential early start to fire season in south-east Queensland, with winds combining with dry conditions this weekend](https://app.meltwater.com/mwTransition?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2F2023-08-18%2Fqueensland-fire-warnings-firefighters-prepare-for-global-meeting%2F102743210&urlCategories=newsLtd&analytics=false&documentId=Ln5zNXW_sfZn5DU64nD2FhnpNPQ&transitionToken=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJob3N0bmFtZSI6Ind3dy5hYmMubmV0LmF1In0.G6KfJQf9DTg3BPfDRnL8aNk-KGOfbZc12czKSTcqj9BstN0qGFyj-TGroGNT_097qH1_WRMtfq5v4vGs7BrXgQ)
The weather bureau is warning of the potential for an early start to the fire season in south-east and central Queensland, with this coming weekend posing a risk.
[Muja coal-fired power station to stay open longer as WA energy shortfall revealed in AEMO report](https://app.meltwater.com/mwTransition?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.abc.net.au%2Fnews%2F2023-08-17%2Fwa-electricity-gas-energy-shortage-muja-coal-extension%2F102740940&urlCategories=newsLtd&analytics=false&documentId=p9ed0dHnncKQqufmg-XZ6DASFnY&transitionToken=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJob3N0bmFtZSI6Ind3dy5hYmMubmV0LmF1In0.G6KfJQf9DTg3BPfDRnL8aNk-KGOfbZc12czKSTcqj9BstN0qGFyj-TGroGNT_097qH1_WRMtfq5v4vGs7BrXgQ)
Western Australia is delaying closing one of its coal-fired power plants after a new report revealed the state could face a shortfall in electricity supply by 2025.
[Whitehaven’s plans could double its methane emissions, think tank warns](https://app.meltwater.com/mwTransition?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smh.com.au%2Fbusiness%2Fcompanies%2Fwhitehaven-s-plans-could-double-its-methane-emissions-think-tank-warns-20230817-p5dxae.html&urlCategories=newsLtd&analytics=false&documentId=iWyPpNP4GKeKxRPeUBBeApc2faU&transitionToken=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJob3N0bmFtZSI6Ind3dy5zbWguY29tLmF1In0.dLrErlrnr5ygrw6r9BmLnD1I0aNYVH93_YJo5EofLTHngNTsac5xMwvusd5MeI2-ZEAd-GcYmYdqdbniemYuyQ)
Whitehaven Coal’s plans to expand its mining operations could double the miner’s methane emissions by the end of the decade, undermining Australia’s global climate commitments, global clean energy and climate think tank Ember says.
[climate change](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/tag/climate-change), [deforestation](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/tag/deforestation), [Biodiversity](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/tag/biodiversity), [activism](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/tag/activism), [forests](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/tag/forests)
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## More news
### [Cutting down of ancient Tasmanian tree labelled a “national disgrace”](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/cutting-down-of-ancient-tasmanian-tree-labelled-a-national-disgrace)
Pictures of a massive, centuries-old tree on the back of a logging truck in Tasmania have sparked...
### [Thousands more of Tasmania 'giant' native trees could be spared from logging under policy change](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/thousands-more-of-tasmania-giant-native-trees-could-be-spared-from-logging-under-policy-change)
Thousands more of Tasmania 'giant' native trees could be spared from logging under policy change....
### [Victoria axes native logging](https://blog.greenpeace.org.au/the-canopy/victoria-axes-native-logging)
[After the chainsaws, the quiet: Victoria’s rapid exit from native forest logging is welcome – and...](https://theconversation.com/after-the-chainsaws-the-quiet-victorias-rapid-exit-from-native-forest-logging-is-welcome-and-long-overdue-206181)
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