“Chris Minns now has a big decision to make – a decision that will not only decide the future of our industry but also the future of NSW’s North Coast communities,” that is according to Andrew Hurford, who chaperoned the Premier, Penny Sharpe – the Minister for Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Heritage – and Peter Duncan – the chair of the Independent Forestry Panel – around Hurford’s sawmill yesterday.
Part of a two-day tour of NSW’s native forest industry – hand-picked by the Premier’s office – Wood Central can exclusively reveal that Minns, Sharpe and Duncan toured Hurford’s Casino mill before travelling to Coffs Harbour Hardwood’s Glenreagh plant and Coffs Harbour showroom. “The timing of this visit indicates that a decision on Great Koala National Park is imminent,” according to Maree McCaskill, the CEO of Timber NSW.
This afternoon, Wood Central spoke to Andrew Hurford, Chair of Timber NSW, John Gunst, workplace trainer and TFTU representative at Hurford’s nearby Kempsey sawmill and Martin McCarthy, part of the family-run Coffs Harbour Hardwoods: “We were given a good hearing. The Premier was interested and asked a lot of good questions,” Hurford said. “He said that he had a very big decision to make in the near future (about the Koala Park) and he wanted to see the operation for himself and get a good feel for the industry.”
According to Gunst, who serves on the NSW committee of management for the TFTU, Australia’s first timber-focused union: “I feel that they are ready to back the industry, to keep it viable.” Gunst, who has worked for the Kempsey Mill for over 20 years, said that the timber industry is crucial to keeping regional towns like Kempsey alive. “For example, in Bowraville, if the sawmills closed, you’d have most of the guys in the town out of work.”
“We have a lot of young guys coming through (here at the mill) that want to build a career,” Gunst said. “It’s about trying to keep people in jobs, and if they close down (due to an enlarged Koala Park), there’s going to be a lot of people out of work.” Speaking to Minns, Gunst said that Koalas and native forestry can coexist: “It doesn’t have to be a case of one or the other. You know, just 12 out of 10,000 trees in State Forests are harvested every year, and everything that is harvested is always replanted,” he said.
“We sat with the Premier, Minister Sharpe and Mr Duncan at our Blue Gum boardroom and spoke about the Koala Park,” McCarthy said. “We then spoke about the impact of an (oversized) park on the state’s supply of hardwoods (used for bridges, utility poles, and other essential services), and you could see the cogs start to turn,” he said. “Our business supports a park, but it needs to be a viable-sized one that can be a win-win for everybody.”
- To learn more about the Great Koala National Park and its potential impact on the supply chain for NSW (and Australian) hardwoods, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive from February 2025.
