Brash young etailer Ruslan Kogan rarely misses a chance to mock what he seems to see as the dinosaurs of the bricks-and-mortar retail industry, and Harvey Norman's Gerry Harvey has been on his hit list.

But politics makes strange bedfellows, and Mr Kogan has come to Mr Harvey's defence following criticism from a single-issue pressure group.

A group called Markets for Change recently issued a report claiming that Harvey Norman is "fuelling the destruction of our native forests" by selling furniture that was made in China from timber originating in Australian natural forests as opposed to plantations.

Although the report claims other retailers - including Freedom Furniture, Forty Winks and Snooze - buy products from the same importers and manufacturers, Harvey Norman was singled out: "As Australia's largest retailer of furniture and electronics in Australia, Harvey Norman, its management and its shareholders have a special responsibility to source products in an environmentally responsible way."

The leadership of Markets for Change almost entirely comprises people who have previously worked with or for Greenpeace or the Wilderness Society.

So what did Mr Kogan have to say in Mr Harvey's defence? See page 2.

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In a blog post, Mr Kogan draws attention to Markets for Change's statement that the timber used is harvested "with permission from state government agencies such as Forestry Tasmania, VicForests, West Australia's Forests Products Commission [sic] and Forests NSW".

They are "independent agencies who exist purely to protect native forests," according to Mr Kogan, but that's not really correct. VicForests describes its purpose as "To build a responsible business that generates the best community value from the commercial management of Victoria's State forests", which is a different kettle of fish.

The WA Forest Products Commission is perhaps more accurately named. "The Forest Products Commission (FPC) is a Government trading enterprise established to develop and market Western Australia's renewable timber resources" and "is not involved in old growth production".

Mr Kogan's defence of Mr Harvey is that "Gerry Harvey is not a criminal - he should not be singled out for some supposed moral crime simply because he has complied with the law, and has sought Australian timber to use in his furniture." That's arguably like the tobacco industry objecting to the proposed 'plain wrap' laws on the grounds that tobacco is a legal product.

He did not address Markets for Change's implication that as Mr Harvey is executive chairman of Harvey Norman and has control of almost 30% of the company's shares, he has some personal responsibility in the matter.

Mr Kogan also suggested Harvey Norman was "just the tip of the iceberg" - whether that's an apt description of the largest electrical and furniture retailer in the country is a moot point.

CONTINUED

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Nor did Mr Kogan mention in the blog post his Milan Direct furniture etailing business, which describes itself as "Australia's LARGEST Designer Furniture Retailer".

iTWire wanted to take up the offer of an interview with Mr Kogan, but it was subsequently withdrawn due to a meeting overrun and we were asked to submit written questions instead. We had not received his answers by the time of publication.