Bill Burke
A story in the West Australian on November 1, 2008, headlined “Mill closure leaves a town on the brink”, says that Gunns is closing a century old timber mill at Yarloop, south-west of Perth, before the end of the year. The mill has been operating since 1894.
!
According to the report “Gunns says the restructure of the native timber industry after the demise of old-growth logging in 2001 resulted in a reduction in the quality of jarrah logs and made the Yarloop mill unviable”.
Sounds like a familiar story.
So much for sustainable forestry. Gunns’ own comment says it all. No planning for the future, when the old growth jarrah had gone? Condemned out of their own mouths. Old-growth logging is what it’s all about. When that is logged out or closed off, it’s time to move on … unless public subsidies come to the rescue.
And by the way, the report says 29 jobs will be lost, and obviously more if Gunns closes their veneer mill as well. How many jobs have Gunns shed in the last two years across Australia? Well, at least their top managers are doing well. At least four of them are “earning” more than Kevin Rudd.
