Watson Mill’s Anthony Watson. Picture: Chris Kidd
Huon sawmill owner Anthony Watson has made an impassioned plea for better access to Tasmanian logs to ensure the livelihood of his workers and their families. Source: The Mercury
Mr Watson, 51, and his father began the family business in 1995 on the site where a mill had been rebuilt after the 1967 bushfires.
They once employed 18 staff and now have 10.
He’s worried about continued access to logs since Victorians are said to be getting more Tasmanian whole logs.
“When Victorians are able to buy Tasmanian sawlogs and we can’t that’s pretty annoying,” Mr Watson said.
“All we’re after is a level playing field. We don’t need preferential treatment although that’d be nice if Tasmania got it for our own timber.
“I think all the Tasmanian timber that can be processed in Tasmania should be processed in Tasmania.”
Mr Watson said when locally felled logs were being taken from Tasmania for milling interstate it did little to help the local economy.
“We’ve got 10 people and apart from one of them, they’ve all got kids, so that’s nine Tasmanian families that derive their livelihood from our business.”
Mr Watson says he’s unable to get sawlogs from Sustainable Timber Tasmania because he doesn’t have a quota and the supply from private forests was not consistent.
“The biggest problem is finding that continuity of supply.
“The feedback we’re getting is the Victorians are paying more for logs to make sure they get them. We haven’t even been offered that as an option.
“It’s annoying that they’re able to come in and buy wood when we weren’t offered any wood.”
Mr Watson says he only needs small amounts of lower grade logs to ensure the mill’s future.
Labor MP for Franklin Dean Winter said hundreds of jobs were at stake across the state if whole logs continued to be shipped to Victoria.
“The Minister seems to have made a decision to take top dollar to send the logs to Victoria, rather than keep our mills going with the timber they need,” he said.
“If you export the logs you export the jobs that process them.
“We need a Tasmania first timber policy. If we want to have sawmills like the Watson’s in the valley, then we have to put Tasmania first.”
Resources Minister Felix Ellis said the government had always been “clear that Tasmanian timber will support Tasmanian jobs” and he would always stand up for timber workers.
“This is why we have been working collaboratively with key industry peak bodies around future sawlog supply and other industry matters for a number of weeks,” he said.
“This is also why we repealed the job-destroying Labor-Green Tasmanian Forest Agreement, ended the lock-ups and restructured STT into an entity that has delivered profits for five years in a row.”
