Following the recent decision by the South Australia (SA) Government to lock down essential construction and manufacturing services (among others) due to Covid, Carpentry Australia braced for significant impacts to our industry and commenced preparation for the pending critical outcomes. It is with great pleasure that we can now advise you, that following immediate action by key industry stakeholders, the SA Government has overturned their decision, enabling the vital timber milling facilities to continue critical production work.

In particular we would like to point out the efforts by one particular individual, who sprung into immediate action the night this news broke. Carpentry Australia aligns closely with a number of Industry Associations and Organisations, none more so than the Frame and Truss Manufacturers Association (FTMA). This relationship is namely due to the close connection of our industry needs, but also due to the extent of proactive and positive work the FTMA does on a daily basis.  This is something the industry and our members benefit from and will continue to benefit from in the future.

Please read Carpentry Australia’s release below:

Re: Further Timber Crisis averted, thanks to the FTMA

We would like to acknowledge the fantastic effort by Kersten Gentle and the team at Frame and Truss Manufacturers Association of Australia (FTMA). On July 20th the South Australian Government announced that they did not recognise sawmilling for structural timber as an essential industry. This meant the OneFortyOne Mill in Mt Gambier and the Timberlink Mill in Tarpeena would be closed from 6pm July 20th for 7 days.

The decision to close down the mills would have been catastrophic for our timber supply for Carpenters across Australia. For those that don’t understand the enormity of the situation, these mills provide approximately 30% of Australia’s timber supply and most likely over 50% of Victoria’s timber supply.

The South Australian Government is the only Government in Australia that has closed down an essential industry like sawmilling.

The second this news broke, Kersten from the FTMA rallied Industry experts, Timber Suppliers, Builders and members of FTMA to lobby for the immediate reopening of the plants. This proactive and immediate response resulted in Chris McGowan, Chief Executive SA Health and Nick Reade, Chief Executive of Department of Premier & Cabinet reviewing and confirming that the South Australian Marshall Government would overturn the decision and the Mt Gambier & Tarpeena mills will be able to reopen and process structural timber.

This was an excellent outcome for our industry and instead of losing minimally 7 days of production, the industry lost only lost one day of production.

As an Industry Support Organisation we are always fighting in the background to support Carpenters and our Industry, in this case though all the credit is due to Kersten and her team at FTMA for protecting our industry’s vital timber supply chain during what is already an extremely tough time. We are all in this together, and must continue to support each other.

Thank you Kersten Gentle!!! 😊

If you need anything please contact our office on 1300 652 779 or email us directly [email protected]