Timber Turmoil

As parts of Australia turn away from native forest logging, Four Corners follows the logs and the money to ask whether the industry is really ending or just shifting state borders.In Victoria and Western Australia, native logging in state forests has been shut down. But the demand for native hardwood has not disappeared. In Timber Turmoil, reporter Jessica Longbottom investigates how timber from Tasmanian native forests is now feeding mills in Victoria, including businesses that have received millions of dollars in public money following Victoria's logging shutdown.The program also travels to New South Wales, where the next major fight over native forestry is playing out. Conservationists are using endangered Greater Glider protections to stop logging tree by tree, while the timber industry argues Australia still needs native hardwood and that shutting down local supply will only push demand overseas.In timber towns like Heyfield, Victoria, the industry says the fight is about more than trees; it is about manufacturing, jobs and the survival of regional communities built around the mills.Four Corners: Timber Turmoil is reported by Jessica Longbottom and produced by Jonathan Miller.