Almost half the areas approved for native logging in East Gippsland have been burnt, with Premier Daniel Andrews bracing for what he says will be a “significant” impact on the forestry industry. The devastation wrought by the recent bushfires came just months after the Labor government announced native logging would be completely banned in 2030, and the cutting of old-growth forest would end immediately. Mr Andrews said 40 per cent of coupes – areas approved for logging – as part of VicForests’ timber release plan in East Gippsland were destroyed by the fires that have so far burnt more than 1.4 million hectares across Victoria. “So there’s going to be a significant impact … there’s going to be big impacts on the forestry industry,” Mr Andrews said on Monday morning. “We’ve said for a while now that the sustainability of this industry could be directly impacted by a significant fire event and that’s exactly what’s happened here.”