The Australian government's support for a trade fair at a seminar this month, organised to promote an expansion of Papua New Guinea's controversial logging industry, has angered environmentalists but has been welcomed by the timber industry's peak lobby group.

The seminar, scheduled for the PNG capital of Port Moresby in two weeks time, is being organised by the PNG Forest Industry Association (PNGFIA) in an effort to counter the loss of key markets and promote overseas investment in an industry mired in controversy.

In conjunction with the seminar, the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) is organising a forestry trade fair to "showcase Australia's leading products and services applicable to the forestry industries". Austrade is a member of the seminar organising committee.

The executive director of the PNG Forest Industry Association, Dick McCarthy, welcomes the support of Austrade. "Australia is really looking at establishing those trade links back into the industry because Australia is a big market for sawn timber from PNG,'' he said.

However, McCarthy declined to reveal details of Austrade's support to the timber industry association seminar. "That is a silly question  bribing politicians and leaders, creating social disharmony and ignoring laws in order to gain access to, rip out, and export the last remnants of valuable timber".

Prime Minister Mekere Moratu acknowledged the problem in introducing his first budget in late 1999. "Governance has been particularly poor in the area of forestry with the side effect of promoting corrupt practices and undermining environmental sustainability,'' he told parliament.

In April 2001, a World Bank independent review team investigating forestmanagement reported that the PNG Forest Authority was "incompetent at almost every level of the forest management process".

McCarthy believes the widespread accusations of corruption levelled against the timber industry are exaggerated: "I just think it is a total over exaggeration — there is various hype around at the moment because some of the vested interests are unhappy with some of the decisions that have been made.''

"The major problem with the forest industry in PNG is not the forest industry. There are vested interests from the NGOs and the consultants who work for the donors who make sure that you leave PNG in a state of continual perplexity and never allow anything here to develop rationally because that keeps certain people in work,'' he said.

However, the controversy over forestry escalates. In one recent case study PNG Forest Watch revealed that 12,000 cubic metres of logs had been felled and approved for export even though no logging permit had been issued to the company.

Brunton is adamant in saying that when the Australian government insisted late last year that funds from the World Bank be released to the PNG government, it missed a chance to help prevent further mismanagement of the forests.

"The Australian government is essentially propping up the illegal logging industry by assuming an uncritical posture and not insisting on major reforms,'' he pointed out. (IPS)