Whiteland Milling
A fourth mill in Western Australia has shut its doors with the loss of more than 30 as a direct result of the WA State Government’s decision to ban hardwood harvesting by next year.
Whiteland Milling has been operating in Busselton for 41 years but will auction off its complete flooring manufacturing factory on Saturday from 10am. Source: Timberbiz
It follows the closure of Parkside Timber’s Manjimup mill on 3 February with the loss of 20 jobs
The company was one of the main flooring manufacturers for the Perth market. As well as being a major employer it utilized other local businesses for its day-today operations.
“This decision goes down bitterly,” Whiteland Milling owner Neil Whiteland told the Busselton Mail.
“There was no consultation or pre-warning about it at all. There was no damn need for it.
I wish the government had done it better. I really do.”
Shadow Minister for Forestry Steve Martin said that “thanks to Labor’s unscientific and cynical decision to shut down a sustainable regional Western Australian industry, dozens of workers in Busselton are now looking for a job”.
“People in regional WA are losing their livelihoods while the Labor Government are asleep at the wheel,” said Mr Martin.
Native forestry in the South West has provided countless jobs and opportunities for workers over the generations.
With more closures expected as the year progresses, Mr Martin questions the lack of detail and delivery in the government’s handling of the shutdowns.
“Labor still has no plan for the hard-working members of the forestry industry. Minister Jackie Jarvis has clearly lost control of the transition process,” he said.
“The closure of Whiteland Milling will have a devastating impact on families, communities and businesses in regional WA. More must be done to ensure that employees and businesses in the forestry sector are supported throughout the entire transition process.
“By shutting down a sustainable, local industry, Premier McGowan has shown us that Labor would rather rely on importing questionably sourced timber into WA than protect our regional jobs.
“These communities need the Minister for Forestry to bring forward the support measures in the Native Forestry Transition Plan.”
Mr Whiteland said the closure would affect a lot of businesses.
“You’ve got the logging people and the bush crews, and local business we deal with every day,” he told the Busselton Mail.
“We spend money on tyres, fuel, maintenance, and repairs. They’re all going to be affected.”
Mr Whiteland said more consultation and research should have been conducted before making such a “devastating” decision.
“Forestry is run sustainably. Saw milling businesses that are still operating only cut 1% of the total forests in WA, and 1% is absolutely minimal, so why couldn’t we have kept going?”
“If they thought things were getting a bit tough, they should’ve maybe just cut back a fraction on the quotas and kept it going for another 10 years which would’ve given more time to plant more pine trees to help the industry.”
