The Member for Vanimo- Green, Belden Namah, has blamed the Treasurer for killing the logging industry by increasing the Log Export Tax over 50%, which was included in the 2023 National Budget passed last year. Mr. Namah argued that the increased logging tax has resulted in unemployment, revenue losses from the logging industry and landowners affected due to poor royalties being paid out to them. Namah said that the Treasurer, Ian Ling Stuckey, made a decision to increase the Log Export Tax, where parliament passed through the budget on the 2nd of December 2022. He questioned why the Treasurer had to make that decision when a previous decision by the Cabinet back in 2021; National Executive Council (NEC) Decision number 13139, reduced the Log Export Tax to 38.5%. “I believe the Prime Minister made a responsible decision, why don’t we just implement that decision and stick to it?” the Vanimo- Green Member asked. But, instead of reducing the tax, Namah said the Treasurer went ahead to increase the Log Export Tax from 38.5% to 50% and then further up to the current 70%. “The Treasurer didn’t indicate how this increased Log Export Tax is affecting the logging industry.” That effect, Namah said was the closure of logging operations in the country where 57 logging projects have had to stop operating with only 7 now operating, and this has resulted in 3, 700 to 5, 000 Papua New Guineans out off job. “We are supposed to make more than K300 million this year, we only made K160million from log exports because we have increased tax,” Namah said. “By increasing tax, production has gone down. Where are you (Government) going to collect your tax?” The MP then said that the logging industry must be seen as an important development partner because the industry has contributed a lot as well to the establishment of road links and it has supported schools and health services, and as such, it should not be heavily taxed. “You have less tax, you have more production, you have more money coming in,” the MP further stated.