Two months to the day after the NSW government decided to establish an enlarged Koala Park on the state’s mid north coast, the Minister with responsibility for forestry – Tara Moriarty – met with 50 or more workers impacted by the “captain’s call” at Hurford’s Hardwood Kempsey mill.
Meeting with the workers face-to-face, Moriarty, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Regional New South Wales, and Minister for Western New South Wales, informed the workers that the area would now be designated as part of the newly established National Park and would therefore conform to the rules of a park.
Facing questions on everything from recreational uses of the area, such as 4WD use, archery, fishing, camping, and trail riding that were part of life on the north coast, the Minister reinforced that the 176,000 hectares will now operate under the same rules set for a national park under the moratorium.
“She faced questions of fire management and concerns with the current national park management regime from staff who were not only employed at the mill but were on the front line for firefighting,” according to a worker on site, who spoke to Wood Central today. And with strong memories of the 2019/20 wildfires, in which many of the major fires were started in national parks, and given the reduction in firefighting staff over the years in state forests, Wood Central understands Moriarty was thrust back into her union official days, engaging in fiery exchanges.
According to Andrew Hurford, CEO of Hurford Hardwood and President of Timber NSW, the state’s entire north coast workforce has raw emotion on display, and they were seriously worried about the future of their industry and whether there was a plan going forward: “No one likes what has happened to the employees of mills where supply has stopped and the severance/compensation packages for those people who had vested most of their working life in the native forest industry were paltry and insulting.”
“The Minister very professionally fielded the questions and was left in no doubt that the timber industry feels under siege and not supported,” Hurford added. “We need the work started now on an NSW Forest Industry Plan as promised by the Premier, and industry needs to be part of developing its future.”
Boots on the steps — Shattered workers want answers
It comes days after more than a hundred timber workers — and their work boots — gathered outside the offices of Janelle Saffin, a NSW minister and a strong proponent for the establishment of a full-sized Koala Park, to mourn the losses of thousands of jobs on the mid-north coast. The vigil, organised by the Timber, Furnishing & Textiles Union (TFTU), saw dozens of work boots laid out on the steps of the minister’s Lismore offices – each representing ten or more families impacted by the decision, along with black balloons to remember communities under strain.
Speaking to Wood Central, TFTU NSW Secretary Alison Rudman said vigil was in response to a policy that has already destroyed livelihoods without offering a credible pathway for those left behind: “We gathered today for an incredibly serious purpose, to mourn the timber jobs lost and to show our respect for the workers whose livelihoods have been destroyed by this decision,” Rudman said.
“The Government’s own research shows timber jobs are better paid jobs, with timber workers earning on average double what tourism workers do. Yet those jobs are being wiped out with no fair plan for those left behind.”
- To learn more about the Koala Park decision and it’s implications for the communities on the north coast of NSW, click here for Wood Central’s special feature.
