Australia's first, and now last, newsprint maker will have a new owner

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Norwegian company Norske Skog has accepted a $27 million offer from Melbourne businessman David Marriner for its mill at Boyer, near Hobart. The mill was Australia's first, and is now the last, producer of newsprint. Mr Marriner has said there will be no job losses as part of the takeover, and that the mill will need to diversify its products to remain viable.

Transcript

00:00For 84 years, the Boyer Mill has been producing newsprint on the banks of the River Derwent.

00:08It's the last factory of its type in Australia.

00:10It's certainly the biggest employer in the Derwent Valley, it's 310 people employed

00:14on site and 1,000 indirect people employed, so virtually every family in our area is touched

00:20by the operation of this site.

00:22Its future has been clouded with uncertainty, and Norwegian owner Norske Skerg has been

00:27trying to sell it for several years, but now it has a buyer, Melbourne businessman David

00:33Mariner, whose $27 million purchase is expected to be completed in the coming month.

00:39It's wonderful to know that my community has a future.

00:43Newsprint is on the decline, further highlighted by Australian community media announcing this

00:48week that daily regional mastheads would be shifting to weekly editions, but the mill's

00:53new owner is looking to shift the focus towards copy paper instead.

00:58There are certainly plenty of opportunities that will see this site operating for a very

01:02long time to come in the paper-based industry.

01:05Mr Mariner also owns a concrete manufacturing facility at nearby Bridgewater.

01:10It's been making segments for the Bridgewater Bridge, but he has ambitions of building precast

01:15housing in the Derwent Valley.

01:17He told the ABC the Boyer site could also be used to create insulation for the housing,

01:23using plantation-based products.

01:25The site still uses coal-fired boilers, and is one of the largest carbon emitters in Tasmania.

01:31Norske Skerg wanted to convert to electric, but couldn't reach a power purchase agreement

01:36with Hydro Tasmania.

01:38Finding more efficient ways to power the site will be a priority for the new owner.

01:44That could include sourcing coal from the Fingal Valley, instead of New South Wales,

01:48while it transitions to electric.

01:51We're certainly interested in having those conversations about how we put that site on

01:55a more sustainable footing going forward.

01:57Certainty for a community, and a new future for an old product.

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