The Kennett Government has been selling off woodchipping rights to Victoria's native forests for royalties of as little as nine cents a tonne. The revelation, contained in a document obtained by The Age, will add fuel to claims that the Australian Government has been propping up the logging industry at the expense of alternatives such as plantations and recycling. In an indication of the value placed on forests by the State Government, a confidential letter to the Newmerella Logging Company in East Gippsland - one of the largest mills in the state - sets royalty rates ranging from nine cents a cubic metre to a high of $1.38. A cubic metre of wood weighs roughly one tonne.