THE owners of Whittaker’s Timber Mill say lack of certainty over log volumes under the State Government’s Forest Management Plan has led to the axing of 44 workers from its Greenbushes Mill.
It has also put a stop to a potential expansion which would have seen the company invest a further $2.5 million at its south-west milling operations.
Blue Leaf Proprietary Ltd, trading as Whittaker’s Timber Mill, which is the second largest employer in the Shire of Bridgetown- Greenbushes, last week announced it would cease log deliveries, close its green mill and scale down dry milling operations, making 44 people redundant.
The remaining 37 workers would process and sell existing stocks over a period of about 12 months.
Whittaker’s Timber Mill Director Geoff Bertolini has laid the blame for the mill’s demise firmly at the door of the State Government for not acting sooner on the concerns of the industry about supply of the resource of native timber.
“It’s not as if we are not making money, we were looking at expanding our business but without the resource we can’t get finance,” Mr Bertolini said.
“In our plan for expansion we needed extra resource, quality resource, at a realistic price,” he said.
He said the Government had chosen to support the sale of Gunns to Auswest at Manjimup and allocated resources away from Whittaker’s Timber Mill at Greenbushes.
“We had an additional quality resource for 12 months but that has now been withdrawn,” he said.
“The industry needs some reform, but it looks like it will be at our expense.”
Mr Bertolini said 44 families would be affected by the closure and the flow on effect would be considerable given the wage bill in the millions currently paid by the company.
He said the mill had been on the market for six months but to date there had not been any serious offers.
“I’m still hopeful someone will purchase the site, it’s going at a good price,” he said.
Five years ago Whittaker’s Timber Mill underwent a $10 million expansion of which the State Government contributed around $2 million which saw the installation of specialised milling equipment to process small logs.
“It seems the State Government is keen for us to keep the small log line going but the incentive is not there,” he said.
Shire of Bridgetown-Greenbushes Shire President Tony Pratico said the small community would be hard hit if 44 people had to leave the district to seek other employment.
Mr Pratico said the Shire, in its submission to the State Government through the Forest Management Plan in November 2012, supported a sustainable timber industry.
“The State Government needs to act on a solution for the long term sustainability of the timber industry immediately and also provide as much assistance as possible to the workers affected by the decision,” he said.
Forest Industries Federation Executive Director Melissa Haslam said the industry was in limbo waiting for a new Forest Management Plan.
“The current Forest Management Plan expires at the end of this year, yet we still do not have a commitment from the Government on the log volumes available to the industry under the next contract period commencing in January 2014,” Ms Haslam said.
“Not only do we not know what volume will be available under the next FMP, but we do not know what the quality of the timber will be, or how much it will cost,” she said.
“All planning is based on sustainable yield calculations projected over 175 years, yet we go through this ridiculous process every 10 years at the expiry of the FMP where the volume for the next 10 years is unknown,” Ms Haslam said.
Meanwhile the State Government has urged workers who have lost their jobs to take advantage of support services.
Forestry Minister Terry Redman said a range of services were being co-ordinated to support the 44 workers left without work following the decision by Whittaker’s to shut down the green mill and half the dry mill.
Mr Redman said the decision was a heavy blow to employees, the Greenbushes community and the entire timber industry.
"My primary concern is for the workers who are losing their jobs and for the other businesses in Greenbushes who will be affected,” he said.
Mr Redman said the Warren-Blackwood Workforce Development Centre would work across the affected region to provide career development services to affected workers.
The centre provides free, high quality and comprehensive career development services including one-on-one guidance and information on training, occupation and labour market issues.
Jobs South West Workforce Development Centre will also offer support to redundant workers including individual career guidance, referrals to other support services and training providers and access to career resources such as resume writing, job search assistance and applications.
Jobs South West WDC is planning a worker’s assistance seminar in Greenbushes on July 2.
Workers can contact the Warren-Blackwood Workforce Development Centre for assistance on 9721 5033.
Displaced workers can also contact Centrelink on 13 28 50 to discuss eligibility for financial assistance and job search assistance.
The Greenbushes Community Resource Centre is investigating various ways to support the displaced workers from Whittaker’s Timber Mill including providing rooms for employees to use when seeking further training or other employment opportunities.
People wanting further information are asked to contact Coordinator Fran Bullock on 9764 3575.
The South West Development Commission is also organising a meeting at the Greenbushes District Hall on July 2 where a range of representatives from various government and non- government agencies will be available to talk with workers and their families.
