Hundreds of people, including politicians from across the party lines, attended a “Save Our Mill” community meeting in Tokoroa last night to discuss a proposal to shut some operations at the Kinleith Mill.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said “we will be speaking to Japan” – the mill’s owner Oji Fibre Solutions – in the next few days about its planned stopping of paper production which would impact 230 jobs.
Other politicians including Regional Development Minister Shane Jones, and Social Development Minister Louise Upston, along with MPs from the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Labour.
Speaking at the event, Peters said his party stood “for all New Zealanders” and Kiwi workers who he said were the “backbone” of the country’s economy.
“We’re here to listen to your unions, your workers, your employers and local leaders. We’re here tonight to listen [and] do everything our party can to advocate for you, to work with you, and we see a chance to come to a real solution,” he told the crowd.”
One worker said he was “shocked” by the time frame of the proposal.
“We were given an 18-month time frame to turn the mill around and that was tipped up on us,” he said.
Another said the community was a “strong, resilient” one, and hoped the decision could be “turned around”.
As well as the loss jobs, people were concerned about the impact on the wider community
Green MP Tamatha Paul, who is from Tokoroa, told 1News she wanted the mill to stay.
“We want to look forward to future industries, especially ones that are more sustainable… with the way the climate is changing, we need to move beyond that at some point, so we need to fix the immediate problem and then look to the future,” she said.
She was pleased to hear Peters’ comments about speaking with the mill’s owners.
She also called for the Government to develop a long-term plan for the regional economy, including a firm plan for tackling energy prices. Peters also said high energy prices needed a fix.
Upston, who is the MP for Taupō, said the proposal was hugely concerning for the community. She said it was encouraging the consultation period had been extended and it was “all hands on deck” to see if there was a way through.
The government had been speaking with Oji.
A number of mill and plant closures have rocked communities across the country this year, including the Ruapehu District’s largest employer Winstone Pulp International shuttering two mills in the central North Island.
Seventy-five jobs were also confirmed to go at Oji’s paper recycling mill in Auckland’s Penrose last month.
PM responds
Hundreds of jobs will be lost with the proposed closure of the Tokoroa mill’s paper recycling operations. (Source: 1News)
On Breakfast this morning, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was asked whether the Government would step in over the South Waikato mill.
He said: “No, there’s a few things going on there. First of all, I’d just say to you, look, it’s pretty tough for people losing their jobs and for those families and those individuals that have been impacted.”
He said the Ministry of Social Development was “on the ground” working with Oji and employees, “looking for opportunities, retraining, all those good things”.
“The second thing I’d say to you is, just remember, the company that’s behind this is a large multinational called Oji. They have huge amounts of capital; they have international investments all around the world; they’ve been saying for many years that actually, paper is unprofitable for them.
“It’s not surprising, people don’t consume newspapers as much any more – but also, the energy prices and energy insecurity has been a factor as well in all of this and that’s thanks to the last Government,” he continued.
“What we can do is make sure that we’re focused on growing the economy, and that’s what our government is doing.
“The answer isn’t for government to go in and buy lots of businesses across the country and run them as a government.”
