THE One Nation party has vowed to increase Victoria's forestry plantation estate.

One Nation lead senate candidate for Victoria, Warren Pickering, said his party would help to bolster the plantation industry through its support for policy which places priority on Australian-grown products.

One Nation has vowed Victorian forestry will “always have One Nation's strong support.

“Forestry in Victoria has been devastated by poor Labor policy driven by environmental activism, which refuses to acknowledge that industry practices in Victoria match the best environmental and stewardship standards anywhere in the world,”M r Pickering said.

“Victoria can make a real contribution to rational timber self-sufficiency.

Despite being the sixth largest country in the world, we aren't self-sufficient and have a $2 billion trade deficit in wood products.

“We don't even make standard office paper in Australia anymore, however, our most important need for timber is in housing construction."

Mi* Pickering said timber costs had risen around 200 per cent since the COVID-19 pandemic, which was an “important factor" in the collapse of building and construction companies.

“One Nation will support a ‘local woodfirst' government procurement policy and the introduction of country-of-origin labelling on timber and wood products,” he said.

“Our policies are to exempt basic building materials from GST for homes up to $1 million for five years, and to reduce electricity costs by 20 per cent.

will help reduce industry costs. We also support the delivery of forestry tertiary education for workforce sustainability and development, and we're backing the industry's call for a national fire response plan for Australia's forests.

“One Nation's main priority is to increase the forestry plantation estate, both in Victoria and rationally.

“We'll extend plantation establishment giants to help meet the industry's target of an additional 18,000 hectares of forest plantation per year.”

Mi' Pickering said forestry was the “ultimate renewable resource”, the man industry party was “more than happy to support".

“Improving our timber resources is vital to our efforts to increase housing supply,” he said.

‘We must plant more trees and become self-sufficient in timber so we don't have to rely on imports from countries with poorer stewardship credentials and exotic pests, and we must also explore innovation in value-adding, such as generating energy from wood waste."