The shutdown of domestic firewood collection is the latest example of “political manoeuvring” in Sydney, which locals say leave regional communities to deal with the fallout.
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At Friday’s firewood rally in Deniliquin, Mathoura’s Dani Joss said the origins of the current crisis stretched back more than a decade, when former Lord Mayor of Sydney turned Labor minister, Frank Sartor, visited the district ahead of the 2010 conversion of state forests into national parks.
She claims the decision was driven not by environmental need, but political strategy.
“The Labor Government required the green vote, and the Greens wanted our forest to become a national park, so the Labor Government was going to give it to them,” Ms Joss said.
She said the political decision had long‑term consequences - the collapse of the timber industry, the loss of local jobs, and now the removal of affordable heating for households already under pressure.
“Local businesses who relied on the income of forest workers have folded,” she said.
“Communities are suffering directly from the closure of the forest and timber industry.”
Deniliquin resident Doug Adamson echoed Ms Joss’ concerns, saying the firewood shutdown is “the latest example of city politics overriding regional needs”.
“It was a political decision ten‑plus years ago to appease the Greens,” he said.
Mr Adamson said the government’s reasoning ignored basic realities of life in small towns, where electricity and gas are increasingly unaffordable and where fallen timber has long been part of sustainable forest management.
“People have been doing it (collecting firewood) for centuries, and each year the fallen logs get replaced with more.
“It’s totally unfair.
“People have been living this way and are now required to change their way of living, have split systems installed; the government has no idea of the expenses.”
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