The wood heating and firewood industries have a number of components. There are several major wood heater manufacturers in Australia and many small manufacturers. There are specialist flue manufacturers and manufacturers of hearths and accessories. There are several distributors that wholesale Australian and imported heaters. There is an extensive retail sector consisting of specialist wood heater retail outlets, specialist domestic heating outlets (wood, gas, electricity), hardware stores selling wood heaters and some major retail chains. There are heater installers and chimney sweeps. These sectors of industry directly employ about 4,000 people. The industry turnover at present is about $90 million per year, but this is at the time of weak sales and production is expected to increase provided unnecessary external constraints are not applied by pollution control authorities and a community that is being misled by false claims of bans and restrictions on wood heaters.

It is estimated that the domestic sector consumes about 10 million tonnes of firewood each year. About half of this is collected by householders for their own use and about half is purchased. Assuming an average purchase price of $160/tonne (higher in major urban areas, lower in rural areas), this industry is worth $400 million per year, with a direct employment of about 5,500 full-time people.

It is worth noting the nature of employment in this industry. The manufacturing sector requires a mix of skilled and unskilled labour. A significant proportion of manufacturing is carried out in rural towns where unemployment is very high. Retail and servicing is distributed through both urban and rural towns, again providing jobs in areas otherwise poorly catered for. The firewood supply sector employs many people who would find other work difficult to find. It also provides opportunities for farmers to supplement farm income through firewood royalties or cutting and delivering firewood themselves. Replacing these kinds of jobs would be extremely difficult and this should be gravely considered in decision making.

It is worth putting the 9,500 jobs in the wood heater and firewood industries into perspective. The imminent closure of BHP's steel operations in Newcastle is expected to put 2,500 people out of work. This is seen as a serious loss of jobs and one that the government is prepared to make major efforts to find alternative employment. In the case of job losses through collapse of the wood heating industry, it would be a much more difficult task to find substitute employment because of the decentralized nature of the industry. Would state and federal government have a plan to employ or relocate these people?