Forest lock up: First of 12 Victorian timber mill closes

One of Victoria’s oldest timber mills near Orbost is about to close with the loss of nine workers’ jobs — and other mills are set to follow.

The last logs being sawn at Mectec’s mill, near Orbost, this week, after state forests were locked up in the wake of a legal injunction that has dragged on since December last year.

One of Victoria’s oldest timber mills closed this week, after running out of sawlogs in the wake of a drawn out legal case that has locked up most state forests.

The sawlog supply was due to run out at Mectec’s Newmerella mill in East Gippsland yesterday afternoon, leaving manager Clinton Mekken and his team of nine without work.

“The permanents will have to take a bit of their annual leave, but even most of that was chewed up during Covid (restrictions),” Mr Mekken said. “The casuals will have to go into Centrelink.”

He said the mill’s customers would also struggle, given 60 per cent of Mectec’s green timber went to other timber businesses that kiln dried and processed it into decking and shiplap cladding for the housing industry.

Mectec is one of 12 mills across Victoria to have lost access to state forests after Victorian Supreme Court judge Melinda Richards slapped injunctions on harvesting last December on any coupe “where there has been a sighting of a greater glider (possum) … within 240 metres”.

The court case was launched by King Lake Friends of the Forest and Environment East Gippsland, who argued VicForests had failed to adhere to the code of practice under which it operates, in regard to protecting the possum.

As of this week Justice Richards had still not ruled on lifting the injunctions, leaving VicForests unable to open up coupes to harvest and haulage contractors, strangling sawlog supplies to mills.

Mr Mekken said his supply of messmate, stringybark, shining, silvertop and grey gum had completely dried up.

“This season I’ve received 550 cubic metres over the past two months,” he said. “Normally I’d be getting 1000 cubic metres a month.

“We’re going to have to go onto benefits or they (government) put the last nail in the coffin of this mill, which has been here for 80 years.”

Timber industry leaders say Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio could end the legal lockup of native forests by spending $100 gazetting Greater Glider possum protections into the Code of Practice for Timber Production.

Victorian Forest Products Association chief executive Deb Kerr said the failure of the Minister to act, meant it had been left to the Supreme Court to decide what protections should be put in place.

But Minister D’Ambrosio’s office said “protection of Greater Gliders is complex and any changes require proper assessment,” as part of a review of the code that has been going on since 2019.

Ms Kerr said more mills faced running out of logs within the next few weeks unless the injunctions were lifted.