David Crisafulli pledges $12.5m lifeline for Mossman Sugar Mill

One of Australia’s oldest sugar mills will be given a $12.5m lifeline if David Crisafulli’s Liberal National Party wins next month’s Queensland election, with the opposition leader vowing to redirect funding to attract a new buyer.

Mossman cane farmer Joe Raldini ... the last harvest ? Picture: Brian Cassey

One of Australia’s oldest sugar mills will be given a $12.5m lifeline if David Crisafulli’s Liberal Nat­ional Party wins October’s Queensland election, with the Opposition Leader vowing to redirect funding to attract a new buyer.

About 130 people lost their jobs when the 127-year-old Mossman Sugar Mill closed in March after its grower-owned parent company went into liquidation and a crucial deal with a potential buyer collapsed.

It was a crippling blow to the town of 1900 people, 80km north of Cairns, which has an economy based on tourism and sugarcane.

Earlier this year, the state Labor government gave $5.9m to Douglas Shire Council to run a “transition program” and another $6m to subsidise transport costs to extend the life of the cane industry by one season.

It did not agree to a $5m loan to help the mill trade through to the money-­making cane-crushing season, potentially saving it.

At a Rural Press Club lunch on Wednesday, Mr Crisafulli said an LNP government would invest $12.5m to deliver immediate support for next year’s crop and plan for the long-term success of the region’s sugar industry.

Under the plan, money allocated by Labor for the shutdown of the cane industry would be redirected to retrofit the mill to lure another buyer or to “improve productivity or transport efficiency”.

A guarantee would also be put in place to ensure next year’s crop could be transported and harvested at the MSF-owned Mulgrave Sugar Mill at Gordonvale, failing a new investor coming forward by next year.

A $500,000 funding package would also be allocated to Canegrowers Queensland to lead new industry development, expansion and increase grower profitability and productivity.

“Our team’s historic investment will give growers the certainty they need to fertilise and to plan next year’s harvest,” Mr Crisafulli said. “It also gives potential buyers of the Mossman Mill confidence they will have product to crush come the 2026 season and beyond. “The choice in the upcoming election is clear. It’s a choice between a Labor Party which thinks the Mossman cane industry is dead, or an LNP which thinks the industry’s best days are ahead of it.”

Canegrowers chief executive Dan Galligan said growers had been reluctant to plant or fertilise a 2025 crop without any guarantee their cane would be crushed next year. “Mr Crisafulli should be commended for showing such strong commitment to the industry and for making the fate of Mossman’s sugarcane growing community an important issue at the next election,” he said.

“Mossman has a long and proud cane growing history and we are determined to do everything possible to see it continue.”

Mossman canegrowers used about $25m in government assistance to buy the mill from Mackay Sugar in 2019, and planned to establish it as a biofuel/bioplastic precinct to complement the volatile sugar market.