Paper may be in short supply in Australia following a court order last week to protect sugar gliders.
The Mill, owned by Opal Australia, employs more than 800 people and is expected to run out of hardwood, the main raw material for the white paper, by mid-December. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
of producer The popular reflex copier paper brand, which has an annual capacity of 68 million reams, is also unsure if it can solve the supply shortage and is considering cutting up to 200 jobs before Christmas.
The situation arose following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Victoria to limit the harvesting capacity of VicForests, a state-owned company responsible for harvesting, marketing and regenerating sustainable timber.
staff cut room
Faced with timber shortages, Opal Australia said it was considering a number of measures.
“Unfortunately, limited standdowns may be required. We are currently discussing this matter with team members,” said Opal Australia. spokesperson said.
Anthony Paivey, president of the Building, Forestry, Shipping, Mining and Energy Union, said paper mill workers were very worried about their future.
“People are dreading heading into Christmas and we’re considering a standdown at first,” he said.
supreme court order
On 4 November, a Victorian court ruled that VicForests had failed to apply adequate measures to protect the brown spider and sugar glider species in its timber harvesting operations in the Gippsland area.
The court then ordered VicForests to detect logging coupe gliders, avoid glider residents, and retain at least 60% of the eucalyptus basement area in the cleared areas in exchange for the right to perform logging operations. , ordered a broader investigation to be conducted. .
Excessive environmental regulations have been accused of reducing local industry and employment, forcing business owners to rely heavily on foreign imports from places like China that are part of the globalization era. rice field.
“Once upon a time, the small towns and villages facing the Great Dividing Range had an area called the National Forest. We had a sawmill at work that supported a small community, and we sawed the wood ourselves,” former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman previously told the Epoch Times.
“But what happened after the late 80s is, we basically turned those national forests into national parks, kicked out the sawmills and farmers. I do,” he added. Supply His outsourcing of chains to global manufacturers has put pressure on the local construction industry in recent months after the war in Ukraine.
Newman also said there were fishing fleets along Australia’s east coast, from Victoria to northern Queensland.
“We were basically self-sufficient in seafood. Same deal. We told the scientists no, no, no, overfishing. We don’t have the fishing fleet we used to have. Now we import seafood.”
australia imports 70 percent of its seafood collected from all over the world.
Daniel Y. Teng contributed to this article.
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Alfred Bui is an Australian reporter based in Melbourne, focusing on local and business news. He is a former small business owner and holds his two master’s degrees in business and business law. Please contact [email protected]