NSW wooden power poles to be phased out; political fight brews [Video]

The electricity network that covers 95 per cent of NSW is phasing out wooden power poles, sparking a fight with the timber industry and the Coalition, but delighting environmentalists campaigning to end native forest logging.

The timber poles come almost exclusively from state forests on the Mid North Coast, many of which are likely to become part of the Great Koala National Park promised by the Minns government before the election. It comes as an analysis of publicly available data shows a high level of logging within the boundaries proposed by the National Parks Association of NSW.

The Australian Forest Products Association (AFPA) says the Mid North Coast provides 90 per cent of power poles in NSW and 70 per cent …