For a community as small as that on King Island, the looming shutdown of a dairy factory will 'affect everything', with locals still processing the news a business with 120 years of history is soon to shut down for good — unless a saviour can be found.
The company says the closure of the King Island facility was "determined as the most viable way to strengthen competitiveness".Residents say the small Tasmanian community will be devastated by the closure of its biggest employer, the King Island Dairy, which is reminding some locals of the 2012 shutdown of the island's abattoir.
" immediate focus will be to work with its valued King Island employees, dairy farmers and the broader King Island community to support them through the transition period," the company said on its website. The closure is akin to the 2012 shutdown of the island's abattoir, which was also owned by a multinational —"Devastating" is the word being thrown around by many people affected by the dairy's closure, both on mainland Tasmania and the island itself.He said it was likely a lot of the younger workers at the factory would have to leave the island to find work.
"We certainly had quite a few years where we were getting on top of things and everyone was looking positive about going forward," he said.Both men agree that King Island, which sits off the north-west tip of Tasmania, is a difficult place to operate a business, due to the high costs associated with freight on Bass Strait.
But when asked what the government could do that the company had not already tried, Mr Barnett said the government would leave "no stone unturned" and that the economic development arms of the government would be involved.One industry experts says "producing cheese on an island in the Bass Strait is always going to be a tough sell".
King Island Dairy Saputo Jeremy Rockliff
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