Thursday, 20 November 2025

 Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (09:55): I rise to update the house on the difficult news of the closure of the AKD softwood sawmill in Yarram this week: 73 workers, their families and the community are impacted by the immediate closure. Although there are workers across the region, in Sale and Traralgon, obviously Yarram will be the most heavily impacted. I have had discussions with government agencies, including Regional Development Victoria, Wellington shire, unions and industry. Regional Development Victoria are on the ground, as are the shire. In talking with industry, there are other companies that are already interested in taking on workers. Although we know there are also going to be people working in the supply chain that are going to be impacted by the closure of the sawmill, which had been making landscaping timbers and pallets, everyone is working together to get the best possible outcomes, as I said, for the workers, for their families, for the community, for the town and for the region. For anyone who would like to like to reach out to me and my office, we will be here to help over the weeks and months coming. I wish everyone all the best as we go through this process.