NSW voters strongly supportive of sustainable native forestry
Friday 2 May 2025
New polling commissioned by the Australian Forest Products Association
(AFPA) in the NSW Mid-North Coast based federal electorate of Cowper
shows voters are strongly supportive of the region’s
sustainable native forestry and recognise the importance of the industry
for local communities, the economy and environment in the area,
Chief Executive Officer of AFPA, Diana Hallam said today.
Importantly, more than half of those surveyed who said they’d vote
for Teal-Independent Caz Heise said they wanted the industry maintained
in the region – despite the candidate’s public commitment
that she wants to shut the industry down.
Other key results from the UComms commissioned poll of 726
residents in Cowper over the 14th and
15th of April, include:
- More than 70 per cent of respondents either ‘strongly
agree’ or ‘agree’ that the NSW Mid-North Coast should
maintain a sustainable native forestry industry
- 3 in 4 respondents believe state forests in the region should be
maintained for recreational uses, like camping, horse riding and dog
walking, over conversion to national park
- 95 per cent of respondents either ‘strongly agree’ or
‘agree’ that timber and timber products should be labelled
with their country of origin
- Almost 60 per cent of respondents disagreed that forestry
plantations should be subject to any special new taxes
- Teal-Independent Caz Heise is ahead in the seat over the
Nationals’ Pat Conaghan, with a 53-47 two-party preferred result
returned in the poll
- Almost 8 per cent of voters are still undecided as to which
candidate or party will receive their first preference vote
“Voters in Cowper need to be aware, if they vote for Caz Heise,
they’re voting for a candidate that wants to shut native forestry
down, a decision that would devastate the Mid-North Coast of NSW.
Furthermore, according to our polling, Caz Heise’s position on
native forestry is the opposite of what the majority of her own voters
want,” Diana Hallam said.
The NSW native forest industry is responsible for almost 9,000
full-time local jobs, many of which are located in Cowper. It
also delivers almost $3 billion in gross revenue and adds more than $1
billion to NSW’s gross value add.
“This polling is also a message to other Teals and industry
opponents contesting the Federal Election that native forestry cannot
just be crossed out with the flick of a pen. You’re dealing with
people’s lives here and without native forestry, the economic and
community devastation would be far reaching in places that have built
themselves on the sector over decades, some places longer than
that,” Diana Hallam concluded.
Source & image credit: AFPA
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