LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
WHEN a small group of Melbourne businessmen bought the Heyfield timber mill, Australia Sustainable Hardwoods, from the collapsing Gunns, they knew the timber resource was limited (The Age, 5/2).
That had been clear for decades.
They could have embarked on reducing capacity and created a truly sustainable industry, albeit with fewer jobs.
But those jobs would have been secure.
Instead they chose to increase production and staffing levels.
They have been keen to arrange an indemnified 20-year contract with the Napthine government, for a resource that wasn’t there.
Now workers have an understandable fear of losing their jobs, while the Andrews government is being pressured to sign off on the deal.
