Foreign corporations, largely from the United States are investing huge amounts of money in plantation establishment. In the case of Tasmania, it appears that joint venture agreements have effectively handed over the ownership of public assets to private companies for terms of up to 70 years. This is also the case in Victoria, where a US life insurance company, John Hancock, now owns 170,000 ha. Some rural townships are simply closing down as residents leave, thus exacerbating the existing crisis facing rural Australia. This is depreciating rural Australia's agricultural assets.
Many people are completely unaware that foreign companies are ultimately calling the shots.
They are continuing to try and develop dialogue with state forestry corporations who are not making it clear that they are no longer responsible for resolving the concerns of the public. However, establishment is occurring in secret. The public is not being made aware of what companies are planting nor where they are planting. State forestry corporations are complicit in this. Clearing of forests is not an efficient way to store carbon as the forests must first be cleared then burnt.