Devastated Laura locals left reeling from shock Golden North factory closure announcement
The looming shutdown of the factory that produces a South Aussie icon – a town’s main employer and tourism drawcard – has locals fearing for their future.
SA News
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The mid-north town of Laura has been left reeling by the announcement that Golden North, the iconic South Australian brand based in the town since 1923, will be relocating to Murray Bridge in June 2026, a move many locals fear will doom the town.
Laura, 41 kilometres inland from Port Pirie, has been the home of Golden North for 102 years, with the factory providing generations of residents with jobs, and local businesses profiting off the town’s connection to the ice cream company.
Frank Bernhardt is one of many local business owners worried about what the move means for his town.
“I think most people were a bit devastated,” he said.
Mr Bernhardt is the owner of Meryle’s Cafe and The Laura Emporium, one of the only cafes in SA to stock every flavour of Golden North ice cream.
Todd Brand from O’Dea Power and Water is proudly Laura “born and raised”.
“It’s been an integral part of our community for 100 years,” he told The Advertiser.
He said the biggest impact the town would see from the relocation was the potential loss of a large portion of the community who will move with the factory.
“The biggest impact that we could possibly see on Laura is losing families from the community, which then has a flow-on effects for the businesses that are obviously still in the town, like the IGA, the cafe, us here.
“It (Golden North) is a very big attraction for us.”
“Travellers coming through, stopping in the cafe being able to buy a Golden North ice cream.”
Craig Zanker is one of 80 Golden North employees faced with the choice of relocating to Murray Bridge or losing his job.
Mr Zanker grew up on a farm outside of Laura, but said he and his wife were open to moving south to stay with the company.
“It came as a bit of a shock, but I’m not too overly worried about my position or my situation,” he said.
“My wife and I will decide what we want to do going forward, but we’ve got a fair bit of time to make a decision.”
Several townspeople who spoke to The Advertiser said there were whispers throughout Laura that Golden North was leaving, but that many had not believe them.
“I heard a few rumours going on beforehand, although I kind of passed them off as just kind of rumours that were a bit over-exaggerated,” Mr Zanker said.
“I only heard a whisper about a fortnight ago, and I thought ‘that’s got to be utter nonsense. They’d never do that’,” resident Natasha McRae said.
Ms McRae works at Northern Machinery, a hardware store that currently provides maintenance services to Golden North, a valuable client they will be without come June next year.
She said the move would affect not just Laura, but the surrounding area as well.
“The employees aren’t all from Laura, they’re from the surrounding district. So it affects the district.
“That’s somebody that doesn’t have a job.”
Many also spoke of the lack of community consultation prior to the announcement, saying the news was dropped suddenly on them.
Pharmacy owner Tash Downing said the town should have been consulted about the move and its ramifications in advance of the announcement, and fears she could be put out of business after June.
“We had no idea, nobody warned us,” she said.
“There was no public consultation, staff didn’t know, local businesses didn’t know, community groups didn’t know.”
Ms Downing said the Northern Areas Council should begin looking at bringing other industries to Laura to ensure the township survives long-term.
“We should be looking at how the town can continue, otherwise we might not be here in 10 years.”
Golden North operations manager Rick Willis has been with the company in Laura for 18 years and will make the move to Murray Bridge to continue his role with the brand.
He said he’d known about the move for a “little while”, and that it had been happening in the background.
“I guess it’s been quite a shock to everyone here not understanding or knowing why it’s happening, which is probably the hardest part of it,” he told The Advertiser.
“It’s been a big part of Laura for such a long time, I think it’s going to take quite some time for people to understand what’s occurred.”
The milk used for Golden North ice cream is currently trucked in from dairy farms in the Adelaide Hills and the Fleurieu Peninsula, having to make a 600km round trip before ending up on store shelves, which co-owner Dimi Kyriazis cited as a key reason for moving production south.
Despite leaving Laura, Mr Willis said Golden North will continue to be involved in the town.
“We’ll try to support the local community as much as we can moving forward,” he said.
“We certainly won’t forget where we’ve come from.”
Originally published as Devastated Laura locals left reeling from shock Golden North factory closure announcement
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