In staggering testimony yesterday, the Victorian environment department’s deputy secretary for forest, fire and regions admitted the department’s position on old-growth logging is that it should end.

“The Andrews government is defying its own environment department to allow Victoria’s old-growth forests to continue to be logged. This is a government that applauds its own action on renewable energy with one hand, while continuing to log forests and burn polluting brown coal with the other,” said Ellen Sandell, Victorian Greens environment spokesperson.

Last week’s rollover of the New South Wales native forest logging laws for another 20 years is nothing short of criminal.

“This disastrous rollover of last century’s Regional Forest Agreements signs the death warrant for threatened species and gives woodchippers everything they have ever wanted - all their Christmases come at once,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens forests spokesperson.

The Senate Inquiry into Australia’s animal extinction crisis today heard testimony that Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews acknowledged the need to protect the highest conservation value forests, but buckled under pressure from VicForests, the state-owned logging company, to allow these forest areas to be logged.

A leaked study by University of Canberra academics for the Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA) shows two thirds of Australians, including those in rural and regional areas, want an end to native forest logging.

“It’s clear that a huge majority of Australians know that logging of native forests must end,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens spokesperson for forests.

“The Labor and Liberal parties are the only thing standing in the way of protecting our native forests.”