Foresters in secret meeting

By PAM GRAHAM

A secret meeting took place this week to try to ease bad feeling in the forestry sector.

Twenty-eight people from all corners of the industry met away from the media's gaze in Wellington on Monday night to try to ease tension between industry giants and minnows and identify common agendas.

The meeting was significant in that no industry associations were invited.

Organiser Bryce Heard, Forest Research's chief executive, denied an attempt was under way to set up one super industry group that could levy the industry to complement government funding.

"Until you have a 'to do list' there is no point in talking about how you are going to fund it, or organise yourselves to do it," Heard said.

"The prime objective is to work out what the 'to do' list is."

The industry has many lobby groups that do not work together well. They include the Forest Industries Council, Forest Owners Association, Farm Forestry Association, Timber Industry Federation and Pine Manufacturers' Association.

The sawmillers in the Timber Industry Federation famously go it alone and berate the Government and other industry participants.

Significantly, their chief, Wayne Coffey, was a meeting organiser.

Peter Berg, president of the New Zealand Forest Owners' Association, and Stuart McKinlay, senior adviser to Panpac, also helped out.

Economic Development Minister Jim Anderton, a cheerleader for the industry, was not invited but Forestry Minister Jim Sutton spoke.

Devon McLean, of Carter Holt Harvey, attended, and so did the global fund managers that have bought forests, small-forest owners and all kinds of processors.

"We're acting outside any industry association as individuals," said Heard.

He said barriers were broken down and some issues identified. An industry levy was not discussed.

It was "absolutely not" just another industry group. This was a fully representative group.

"We don't want to make a big fuss about it because we would be proclaiming victory when we have just started the race."

The forest industry last year exported $3.7 billion of goods, making up 13 per cent of total merchandise export receipts, up 40 per cent since 1995.

The industry has been benefiting from boom times in its domestic market but its export markets have been hit by cyclical lows in prices, the high dollar and high freight rates.