PAPERLINX BLOW

Diversification needed in Any Assistance Package

www.tas.greens.org.au
The Tasmanian Greens today expressed their sympathy for the 250 Tasmania Paper workers who are to lose their jobs after parent company Paperlinx announced it would close its Wesley Vale mill and part of the Burnie mill by March next year.

Greens Forestry spokesperson Kim Booth MP said the collapse of Tas Paper is shocking news for the North West coast which has lost thousands of jobs in the past 12 months, and called on the Tasmanian and Federal Government to encourage job and industry diversification as part of any assistance package for the region.

Mr Booth also said that Tas Paper indicated in 2007 that their future lay in processing wood fibre that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council scheme (FSC) in order to access the lucrative FSC-accredited paper markets, but that Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Limited were unable to supply the required product as they cannot achieve FSC certification due to their forest practices.

“The loss of another 250 jobs from the North West will have serious flow-on effects for the entire community and the Greens are calling on the Tasmanian and Federal Governments to put every effort into developing a diversified assistance plan for the region,” said Mr Booth.

“The solutions for Tasmania lie in diversifying our employment base across a range of industries, and any government assistance program must take account of the benefits that flow from diversifying our workforce.”

“If Forestry Tasmania were able to provide FSC-certified wood fibre then these mills may still be open and may in fact be thriving, but the archaic forest practices allowed in this state preclude FSC certification which has ultimately sounded the death-knell for Tas Paper’s operations in Tasmania.”
Kim Booth MP Greens Forestry spokesperson