Australian Forestry Union Urges Lawmakers to Pass Illegal Logging Bill

Warning of continued price dumping by outside firms, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union recently urged Australia's Senate to pass the Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill, according to ABC News.

The bill aims to restrict commerce in illegally logged timber from abroad and contains "due diligence" provisions, much like the U.S. Lacey Act, and it has provisions to restrict the processing of domestically grown logs that have been illegally sourced. It passed the Australian house in August.

Craig Smith, the union's state secretary for forestry, specifically called on Mike Kelly, a senator representing Eden-Monaro, New South Wales, to lobby other senators to pass the legislation. Smith thinks other senators are avoiding the issue. "Due to the Liberal and National Party's opposition to the bill, it will most likely need the support of the Greens, and I think that's why the government has put this issue in the too-hard basket," Smith told ABC News.