Victorian Plantations Corporation
Formed in 1993, the VPC was the first project under the State Owned Enterprise
Scheme.
The Government vested almost 170,000 hectares of public forest and plantation
in the corporation.
About one third of Victoria is public land and about 2% of this public land has been vested in the VPC
Estimates prior to the privatisation stated that only 115,000 ha. of VPC land was plantation - 108,000 hectares of pine plantations and 7000 of hardwood. This left around 55,000 ha. of non plantation public land under VPC management.
The VPC estimated that they managed 167,921 ha. of land in Victoria. Most of this is public land, but a small proportion is either freehold land which the VPC has leased or land which the VPC has purchased. VPC estimates state that 52,000 ha. are plantations in the North East Zone; 28,000 ha. of plantations in the Latrobe Zone and 41,000 ha. of plantations in the Western Zone - A total of 121,000 ha. of plantation, leaving around 47,000 ha. of non-plantation land in VPC management .
Around 20,000 ha. of this non-plantation land is native forest (as well as
roads and tracks) in the Strzelecki State Forest, in the Latrobe zone. Due to
outmoded zoning decisions made in the early 80s, about 2000 ha. of this is theoretically
available for clearing and conversion to plantation, although it is unlikely
that this would be permitted under present native vegetation controls.
The VPC managed a total of around 40,000 hectares of the Strzelecki State Forest.
This makes up around two thirds of the entire State Forest. See map below.
Click here for latest
version of the The 1993 Victorian Plantations Corporation Act:
There is another amendment bill currently going through Parliament, to which we cannot
presently link you. Its purpose, among other things, is to allow for the full privatisation
of the VPC. We can link you to a document we prepared as a
comment on the new amendment bill.
Click here for Hansard VPC links:
State Govt release:
Natural Resources Sustainable Management in Victoria
VICTORIAN PLANTATIONS CORPORATION
Government owned softwood and hardwood plantations were transferred to the
Victorian Plantations Corporation on its establishment in 1993. The
Corporation has been able to meet increased demand for forest product
through a thinning program, cost reductions and the optimisation of returns,
all of which will enhance sawlog production in the future.
The Coalition will support expansion of the Corporation's land base to
establish 1000 hectares of new plantings and increase the annual replanting
of Corporation stock from 2500 hectares in 1995 to 3500 hectares in 1997.
© Liberal Party of Australia (Victorian Division). Authorised by P. Poggioli, for the Liberal Party,
104 Exhibition St, Melb, 3000 and M. Fearn, for the National Party,24 Collins St.Melb, 3000.
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The Age: Tuesday 17 March1998 http://www.theage.com.au/daily/980317/bus/bus11.html
State timber sell-off this year
By KIRSTY SIMPSON GEOFF STRONG and LEONIE WOOD
The Victorian Plantations Corporation will be privatised this year, transferring
management of almost 170,000 hectares of the state's prime timber country to the
private sector.
The sale would allow the local timber industry to compete more aggressively in the
international market, the State Government said.
"Privatisation of the VPC will be an important factor in Victoria achieving its goal of
trebling the area of plantations by 2020, easing pressure on public forests," the
Treasurer, Mr Alan Stockdale, said.
"A major competitor in these markets is New Zealand, where privatisation of the
timber industry has generated substantial increases in planting rates, the number of
world class processing plants, employment and forestry exports."
Early estimates suggest the sale could raise $200 million to $500 million.
Conservation groups reacted angrily to the news, claiming environmental controls
would be almost impossible to enforce.
Dr Rod Anderson from Environment Victoria said the privatisation would transfer
65,000 hectares of native forest to private hands.
"We have seen what has happened with the semi-privatisation of the VPC in the
Strzelecki Ranges. They have been able to do exactly what they want."
The Government responded that the VPC's land would be subject to the same
controls it was under now and would remain subject to the Code of Forest Practices
monitored by the local shires.
But Mr Anthony Amis from Friends of the Earth said that, under the new
arrangements, supervising environmental compliance would no longer be with the
Department of Natural Resources and Environment but with local councils that
lacked resources.
The VPC already has 115,000 hectares of plantations in Gippsland, the north-east
and the western districts and more than 50,000 hectares of non-plantation Crown
land. VPC plantations make up about 12 per cent of Australia's public plantations.
More than half of the area is pine plantations.
The VPC, with net assets of $323 million, will be split into three zones or sold as
one package. The new owner will be granted the leases in perpetuity, but will be
able to use the land for forestry purposes only.
Corporatised in 1993, the group made a pre-tax operating profit of $29.7 million in
1997.
A spokesman for Amcor, one of the country's biggest forestry users and the sole
manufacturer of white paper products, said the company was not likely to be a
buyer.
He said the majority of Amcor's forestry operations were on company-owned land
with the balance leased. He said the group's forestry requirements were guaranteed
by legislation until 2030.
Amcor's Maryvale mill in east Gippsland is building and testing a $330 million
machine to supplement its fine white paper production. The machine is expected to
be commissioned by August.
It is unclear whether the assets would be more attractive to integrated paper
manufacturers or specialist forestry managers, but the Government is expecting a
range of bids from diverse groups.
Although the Government said it would not discriminate between foreign and local
bids, it is believed the state may be amenable to attracting an international player
with new technology and innovations to shake up the local industry.
(Published by The Age Online Pty Ltd ACN 069 962 885 ©1998 David Syme & Co Ltd)
US based Hancocks were the winning bidder in the Great VPC selloff, paying 550 million dollars for the VPC, its staff and perpetual leaehold over VPC managed public land. The selloff took place towards the end of 1998. Creating a large National Park in the Strzeleckis will now involve giving back a portion of the money Hancocks paid to the State Government, in order to buy out some of the leasehold and return it to the public domain.