however, the big step came in 1961, when the chairman of the forests commission, alf lawrence attended the world forestry conference in são paulo brazil and upon his return took a bold decision to commit victoria to a massive plantation expansion (px) program which initiated nearly four decades of rapid plantation establishment. at that stage, softwoods were still being imported in large quantities and it was also believed that softwoods could not only relieve the pressure on native forests but make australia self-sufficient in timber resources.