Ms Jarvis said she hoped business would adapt and keep operating.
More than 20 timber workers in Western Australia will be looking for a job from today following the decision by Parkside Timber to close its Manjimup mill. Source: Timberbiz
It comes two weeks after 45 workers lost their jobs when Parkside closed its mill in the nearby town of Nannup and less than a year after the Queensland-based company shut its mill in Greenbushes.
The closure of the mills is as a direct result of the WA State Government’s decision to ban hardwood harvesting in Western Australia by next year.
WA’s Shadow Forestry Minister Steve Martin said that the State’s newly appointed Forestry Minister Jackie Jarvis needed to act immediately to assist timber workers and their communities following the closure of the mill.
“The closure of Manjimup Mill comes significantly earlier than expected,” Mr Martin said.
“This is a clear sign that Minister (Jackie) Jarvis needs to bring forward the transition package available to affected employees, businesses and communities.
“The Government’s response has been hopelessly inadequate and far too slow.”
Mr Martin said the forestry industry in WA was already shutting down and the transition package for workers and communities was lacking in detail and delivery.
“At a time when the industry is in desperate need of support to help transition workers and businesses away from hardwood harvesting, the McGowan Labor Government clearly has no plan in place,” he said.
“For well over a year the forestry industry and related sectors have been calling upon the Labor Government for answers but have been ignored at every turn.”
Ms Jarvis told the ABC that there was on-the-ground support to workers in both Nannup and Manjimup to help mill workers with support payments and retraining.
“They are on the ground in these towns and will be for many weeks to come,” she said.
She was hopeful those who had lost their jobs in Manjimup would be able to find work.
Ms Jarvis said she hoped business would adapt and keep operating.
“No other timber mill has said they’ll be stopping processing or stopping deliveries,” she told the ABC.
“It’s our hope that those timber mills, particularly those ones who are supplying Western Australian timber businesses, we would expect them to keep trading well into the future.”
But Mr Martin said Labor had failed to consult with industry before making its decision to ban hardwood harvesting and now has no serious transition plan in place to support local jobs in the South West.
“When he made the decision to shut down a sustainable, local industry Premier McGowan claimed to be saving the environment. Now his government is importing coal to keep the lights on and exporting timber jobs,” he said.
“This is yet another blow for the small communities of the South West region.
“These communities need the Minister for Forestry to bring forward the support measures in the Native Forestry Transition Plan.”
