About 150 concerned and directly affected locals attended the gathering at Eli Brown Park, off Hardinge St in Deniliquin, to demand the NSW Government’s decision to shut down domestic firewood collection in the Murray and Murrumbidgee Valley national parks be reversed.
The rally, coordinated by NSW Member for Murray Helen Dalton, brought together residents from Deniliquin, Mathoura and surrounding districts who say the closure of the Riverina Domestic Firewood Collection Program will leave households without an affordable way to heat their homes and worsen fuel loads in local forests.
Ms Dalton expressed frustration that communities were being “locked out” of forests they had lived beside and cared for many decades.
“For generations, local families have lived alongside these forests, worked in them, cared for them, collected firewood from them, and understood how they should be managed,” she said.
“When the state forests were turned into national parks, communities were told they would not be forgotten or disadvantaged.
“Sixteen years later, that promise is being walked back.”
Ms Dalton said the decision showed a lack of understanding from Sydney‑based decision‑makers.
“For people sitting in offices in Sydney, firewood might sound like a minor issue. Out here, it is not.
“It is how we heat our homes, how pensioners stay warm, and how families get through freezing winter nights.”
Edward River Council Mayor Ashley Hall warned the consequences of shutting down firewood access would be severe, both for household budgets and for forest safety.
“My concern is that in years to come, if nothing is done, there will be a significant fire and there will be some tragedy,” he said.
“There’ll be lives lost if these stupid decisions are not reversed.”
Cr Hall said the consultation process had been “abhorrent”, and that the government had failed to consider the realities of heating in regional NSW.
“We haven’t got natural gas. Wood has been our staple heat source in our very cold winters,” he said.
“Sydney doesn’t experience minus four (weather).
“They don’t have a clue what it’s like out in these areas.”
Mathoura resident Tom Weyrich said the existing permit system for collecting fallen timber worked well, and did not need to be dismantled.
He said the decision continued a long pattern of “city decisions, country consequences”.
“There’s no practical reason for doing this,” he said.
“It makes no sense. It’s just a political decision made by people who wouldn’t know sheep from clay.
“There are a lot of people in Mathoura, Deniliquin and the whole district who rely on firewood.
“It’s just plain wrong; it’s not right on a lot of levels.”
Mathoura resident Dani Joss said the community felt misled when the forests were converted to national parks in 2010, and that current assurances about alternative firewood sources were equally unreliable.
She said she tried to search online for alternatives to firewood collection alluded to by the government when making the decision, including commercial operators and state forests under the management of the Forestry Corporation.
“Koondrook is the nearest state forest and currently offers no wood collection permits,” she said.
“When you Google commercial firewood supplies for Deniliquin, the search stalls.”
Ms Joss said the removal of self‑collection would hit older residents and low‑income households hardest.
“Our population here is ageing, and many locals rely on personal wood collection to keep their power bills affordable,” she said.
“The removal of self‑collection impacts us financially and adds to the build‑up of fuel in the forest, leaving us open to catastrophic fires.”
Ms Dalton said the firewood program should not be shut down until a genuine long‑term alternative was in place.
“The government needs to reverse this decision now,” she said.
“Don’t leave our communities in the cold. Don’t lock locals out. Save our firewood.”
• More articles in tomorrow’s Pastoral Times.
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