Victoria’s state-owned forestry corporation has been charged with illegal logging of a rainforest in East Gippsland after a near two-year investigation. The Andrews government’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning is pursuing VicForests over alleged destruction of a protected section of native forest near Cann River in the state’s far east. VicForests will defend the charges in court next month.  If found guilty of breaching the Sustainable Forests Act it will face financial penalties of up to $38,000. The state-owned company is sole supplier to the Heyfield timber mill in Gippsland, which the government purchased last year at a cost to taxpayers of more than $62 million.