{"id":32808,"date":"2026-02-20T13:30:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T03:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=32808"},"modified":"2026-02-20T13:35:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T03:35:41","slug":"victorias-timber-towns-urge-allan-to-act-swiftly-on-swifts-creek-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/victorias-timber-towns-urge-allan-to-act-swiftly-on-swifts-creek-shutdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Victoria\u2019s Timber Towns Urge Allan to Act Swiftly on Swifts Creek Shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Victoria\u2019s Timber Towns are urging Jacinta Allen and the Victorian government to act now and support communities still impacted by its 2024 swift decision to end native forestry, as the East Gippsland community continue to mourn the loss of the historic Swifts Creek sawmill and looks to reinvent itself.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis mill closure is the glaring outcome of an ad-hoc decision by the government that has lasting impacts across communities at so many levels,\u201d according to Karen Stephens, President of Timber Towns Victoria, which represents municipalities in the state\u2019s north, east and west.<\/a> \u201cThe Swift Creek community need genuine government support that has dependable outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephens, herself a councillor and mayor of the Glenelg Shire in the state’s southwest, said the closure highlights the ongoing challenges local communities face as they work to find a future for themselves post native forestry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe consequences of the government decision are being felt by every household, business and person within the community.\u201d <\/p>Karen Stephens, President of Timber Towns Victoria, on spoke of the flow on effects from the decision to cease native forestry in January 2024.<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Established by the Ezard family in the immediate aftermath of the 1939 Black Friday bushfires, the sawmill operated for decades as a hardwood sawmill, supplying structural timber, pallets, and general hardwood products from mountain ash, alpine ash, silvertop ash, and messmate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to The Weekly Times last month, long\u2011time community advocate Stephen Richardson said the mill\u2019s closure has left the Swifts Creek community facing uncertainty: \u201cSwifts Creek is in real trouble,\u201d Richardson warned. \u201cThe promise to put all those timber jobs somewhere else locally hasn\u2019t been kept.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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