Queensland Timber Industry Has Warned It Is at Risk of Decimation

WITH the forced closure of another sawmill at Tambo last week, the Queensland timber industry has warned it is at risk of "decimation" unless urgent action is taken to fill critical labour shortages. Sawmill operator NK Collins Industries was forced to close its Tambo facility this week because it could not find the nine additional workers required to keep it operational. The mill had been operating at a loss, with only six employees, for most of this year in the hope workers would eventually be sourced. In the past 18 months, NK Collins has also been forced to close its mills at Augathella and Mungalalla. Formally Australia's largest exporter of cyprus pine, which has operated in Queensland for more than 60 years, the company now has a single cyprus mill operating at Mitchell. NK Collins also processes hardwood with six workers at its Surat mill. General manager Sean Gribble said with five mills in the state and a processing and distribution plant at Toowoomba, the business could employ up to 220 people. But it has been three years since NK Collins was last fully operational. Mr Gribble said the final straw for Tambo was when two workers left to work at the Blackall-Tambo council. But it was the mining sector that posed the biggest threat to the sawmill industry, he said. "We are definitely living in a two speed economy, " he said. "All of a sudden the mining sector has come along and it is the biggest priority for the government because of the royalties it generates and the rest of us are all expected to just stand aside. "When we opened the Tambo mill so much was injected into the community the population tripled, the school doubled in size. It's tough because closing these mills also impacts the viability of continuing our head office operations in Toowoomba, which employs 80 people. The reality is we need some immediate Government action. " Timber Queensland chief executive officer Rod McInnes said there was no hope of survival for the industry unless the Federal Government allowed visa exemptions for skilled workers in specific regional and remote areas. Source: qcl.farmonline.com.au