Timber workers who are set to miss out on the vital support packages when native logging ban hits

Months after the State Government made the contentious decision to end native logging after 2023 two South West businesses have now been left shell-shocked after finding out they do not qualify for any of the draft support packages. Wayne Herdigan of Herdigan Logging and Timber Supplies and Alan Trease of South West Sharpening Services have both been involved with the native timber business for decades. However, last week both business owners found out they did not meet the criteria for the draft business support packages which had been announced by Forestry Minister Dave Kelly earlier this month. The draft support packages have been set up to help businesses, which will either downsize or close, manage the financial burden once the native logging industry closes. Mr Herdigan cuts firewood while Mr Trease is known as a ‘saw doctor’ who sharpens the blades used by mills and machinery and while both men work closely within the native timber industry a technicality in the criteria bar them from accessing any business payout from the State Government. According to the draft business support package criteria, a business which receives its product from the Forest Products Commission but works exclusively in the firewood industry will not be eligible. Meanwhile other businesses who do not have more than 80 per cent of their jobs or contracts with the FPC are also not eligible for support package money. Mr Trease said because he could not be accepted into the business support program he stands to lose more than $500,000 worth of equipment which will not be reimbursed after 2023. “I have done a quick count the other day and found 90 per cent of my income is directly from the harvesting industry and what I have got in my workshop that will be obsolete, so I have got no future,” he said. Mr Herdigan said he was also in the same boat with his company looking to go bust once the native timber industry was closed given the amount of wood available post 2024 will drop massively.