Mossman sugar mill gets $12m in state funding

The Mossman sugar mill has been granted a temporary stay of execution, thanks to a mystery investor. This is what we know.

About 50 Mossman and Douglas Shire residents held a demonstration out the front of a community cabinet meeting in Cairns on Wednesday, advocating for the government to step in and offer the Mossman mill a lifeline. It prompted Premier Steven Miles to announce a $12m package. Picture: Supplied

The Mossman sugar mill has been granted a temporary stay of execution, thanks to a mystery investor.

Creditors met on Thursday to decide on whether to liquidate Daintree Bio Precinct, the parent company of Far Northern Milling.

It’s understood the unnamed financier is an Australian investor and will be working with a green energy company called Clever Power.

The mill’s administrator advised growers that a potential investor had come forward to provide funding earlier this week but were given a scare after a “last-minute change of heart”.

“We were told a private investor was willing to put money on the table to save the mill,” Canegrowers Mossman chair Matt Watson said

“Clever Power and the investor would take on the mill and guarantee crushing for at least the next four seasons as they worked to improve and increase production and make the mill more stable before looking to diversify into value-adding opportunities in the energy field.

“We were concerned about how things would turn out when the investor seemed to have a change of heart at the last minute, and we all attended the creditor’s meeting today not knowing for sure what the outcome of all the hard work would be.

“So, we were surprised and heartened when the administrator said there was a potential way forward.”

The administrator and investor now have 15 days to produce a legal document and complete financial arrangements before the deal can be finalised.

It caps a dramatic week for Mossman residents who breathed a sigh of relief when the beleaguered mill was delivered an eleventh-hour lifeline with the promise of $12m in state funding.

Premier Steven Miles told canegrowers, business leaders and locals, who have been fighting for the survival of their town’s second largest employer, that the money would go towards either the mill’s future viability or a transition package for employees and families who would be impacted by the mill’s closure.

Mossman sugar mill in Far North Queensland. Picture: Supplied

While the details of the $12m support package remain scant, Douglas Chamber of Commerce president Jeremy Blockey said the community was “absolutely ecstatic”.

“I was advised by one of his (the Premier’s advisers),” Mr Blockey said. “I don’t think he was expecting to make an announcement today but having 50 people outside with placards saying ‘Save our town. Save our shire’, I think that was enough to tip him over the edge.”

“He knew he had to do something.”

About 150 concerned residents attended a snap meeting in Mossman on Monday night over concerns about the town's sugar mill. Picture: Supplied

While the figure alone would likely not be enough to save the mill, Mr Blockey said “most people were expecting to come out with nothing”.

“Maybe there’s the opportunity to tweak something, maybe there’s another player who might be able to bolster that amount of money,” he said.

Kathy and Terry Melchert were among 50-odd Mossman residents who travelled down to Cairns on Wednesday to advocate for government intervention into the Mossman mill. Picture: Annabel Bowles

Terry Melchert, a former employee of the mill and a Mossman resident, said the loss of the industry would be devastating for the Far North town.

“I know people might want more, but they’d already put a lot of money into the mill between state and federal governments,” he said.

“It’s important for the whole community, not just for the sugar industry. It’s the whole Douglas Shire … all those supports that run behind (the mill) that people don’t see”.

The ongoing turmoil surrounding the mill had taken a toll on the community, Mr Watson said. “It has been a stressful few years, and the past few months in particular have been especially worrying,” he said. “But growers are heading into this year’s crush with a renewed sense of confidence in the future and that is fantastic news for the industry and the community.”

The mill employs about a third of Mossman’s population.