Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today was another important milestone in the history of an industry that is very important in my electorate. The Boyer paper mill is currently trading under the name of Norske Skog, a world-leading Norwegian producer of newspaper and related paper grades that is represented in 14 countries. Today I learnt that agreement had finally come through for the paper mill to receive both federal and state government help, in partnership with the company, to go into an expansion to diversify production from newsprint to magazine-grade coated paper. It has had to do this to survive in the new, electronic world.

A little history: the mill now run by Norske Skog used to be owned by Australian Newsprint Mills, which evolved from the need for an Australian paper industry last century, and it has a rich and colourful history. In 1920 the Melbourne-based Mussen Group funded research at Kermandie, in the Huon Valley, to make newspaper from Tasmanian hardwoods. A breakaway newspaper syndicate, led by Keith Murdoch from the Herald and Weekly Times and Warwick Fairfax from the Age, formed the Derwent Valley Paper and Pulp Company in 1932. This company negotiated extensive forest concessions in the Florentine Valley with the state government. The two parties came together as Australian Newsprint Mills and began building the Boyer paper mill in 1939. The Boyer mill is still located alongside the Derwent River, 36 kilometres from Hobart. It is a major contributor to the Tasmanian economy and has been so over its lifetime. It has distributed its paper to every state and territory in Australia, supplying around 40 per cent of Australia's demand. A residential suburb for workers' families was constructed at New Norfolk. The mill opened in 1941 and the 10 Australian daily newspapers used Boyer newsprint, so averting serious wartime paper rationing.

The mill's history reflects the history of the timber industry in Tasmania. Logs were extracted from the area around Fitzgerald and Karanja, and workforce camps providing comfortable but basic accommodation were built. Bushmen used crosscut saws and axes to fell timber, and tractors dragged logs to sidings where steam haulers winched them onto rail tracks. Spur lines joined the main railway to Boyer. In 1947, the township of Maydena was built as a base for logging in the Florentine Valley. Thriving communities developed at New Norfolk and Maydena, and the company built amenities, including halls, football grounds and swimming pools. The workforce was a bit like that of the early Hydro and included many single men, often migrants. Extensive silviculture research led to Maydena becoming known as the 'cradle of Australian wet-forest silviculture'.

Tasmania's first modern conservation controversy occurred in 1948, when the government annexed 2,000 acres from Mount Field National Park to extend the Florentine concession. Now, nearly 60 years later, history is repeating itself with the current notorious wrangle going on in Tasmanian forestry which we are attempting to resolve with another agreement. By 1960 the chainsaw had replaced the crosscut saw, increasing the timber extraction rate. Boyer mill expanded, with new machines increasing production. But mechanisation and contracting work gradually reduced the workforce, and the area adjacent to Maydena was made part of the South West Wilderness World Heritage Area, limiting possible expansion.

With outdated machinery and global competition, Boyer mill nearly closed. New Zealand paper giant Fletcher Challenge took over in 1988 and reduced the workforce from 3,000 to 600. Significantly, the change was made with union and community agreement after extensive studies had been done and overseas study trips with union delegates and management undertaken. Maydena depot closed in 1990. In 2002, Fletcher Challenge was taken over by Norwegian paper giant Norske Skog, whose international reputation for professionalism suggested long-term viability for the newsprint industry at Boyer.

Now, with this latest agreement, another opportunity to thrive has been offered. It could mean as many as 100 jobs in construction. We will then secure the 300 jobs in the conversion to making coated paper. This will help us keep the mill going for many years into the future. If we are to secure a future for our traditional industries, we have to assist in the transition. (Time expired)