National Association of Forest Industries

The National Association of Forest Industries (NAFI) is a lobby group for part of the Australian forest industry.

NAFI was established in 1986 to promote the views of forest industries to the Australian public and governments. It has been a constant critic of efforts by environmentalists and others to protect Australia's native forests from logging and woodchipping.

According to a 1993 Amcor Annual Report, former managing director of Amcor, Don McFarlane has been chairman of the Australian Manufacturing Council Industry and the Environment Committee and has also been president of the National Association of Forest Industries. 

Links to Government
NAFI has close links to Australia's Howard Government. Before taking her current job as CEO of NAFI, Catherine Murphy worked as Chief of Staff to the Minister for Education, Science and Training, Brendan Nelson. Prior to this, over the period of 1996-2002, Murphy was Senior Adviser (Legal) to Prime Minister John Howard. 

Tax Concessions
In April 2006, Australian Greens leader Bob Brown noted that NAFI receives tax concessions from the Federal Government, despite being funded by logging companies. He said that NAFI in turn funds the group Timber Communities Australia, which is used to attack community-based anti-logging organisations. Senator Brown said that such political activities are a drain on the public purse and NAFI's tax status should be opened to public examination. 

Personnel

 * CEO: Catherine Murphy
 * President: Greg McCormack
 * Executive Director: Kate Carnell

Contact Details
National Association of Forest Industries PO Box 239 Deakin West ACT 2600 AUSTRALIA Phone: (02) 6285 3833 Fax: (02) 6285 3855 Email: enquiries@nafi.com.au Web: http://www.nafi.com.au

Other SourceWatch resources

 * Timber Communities Australia

External Resources

 * "Focus turns to boosting Indigenous forestry jobs", ABC News, November 21, 2005.
 * Greens push for probe into forestry group, ABC News, April 2, 2006.