50 years ago The Express, August 27, 1976 Better mail service soon   THE Morwell mail centre will be a further step in the decentralisation program of the mail processing work from the central mail exchange in Melbourne to a number of country locations. The State Manager of Australia Post, Mr R. J. Page, advised the Member for McMillan, Mr Simon, of this yesterday. The complete decentralised program envisages the introduction of seven mail processing centres in the Melbourne metropolitan area and five in the Victorian Country area. Morwell will be one of the five in the Victorian country areas. Studies by Australia Post have led to the conclusion that a network of decentralised mail centres is a more appropriate base on which to maintain fast and efficient postal services to meet community needs. The Morwell mail centre will serve most of the Gippsland District, and is planned to commence operation during the 1977-1978 financial year.   30 years ago The Express, August 27, 1996 Shadow minister inspects paper mill   THE Shadow Environment Minister, Sheryl Garbutt, was in Latrobe Valley to obtain a first hand view of what is now our single largest employer. Both the management and union representatives were anxious for the shadow minister to understand the scale of operations in the forest and paper industry in Latrobe Valley and its importance to the local community. It is important for members of the alternative government to appreciate regional issues and Australian Paper is certainly an important issue in this region.   10 years ago The Express, August 25, 2016 Silence from education dept   THE Department of Education has not commented on a review of its Trafalgar High bus service which has resulted in a number of Willow Grove parents invoiced almost $250. Trafalgar High School, on behalf of the department, recently sent out letters to a number of Willow Grove parents with the invoice for last semester’s school bus fares, as they had bypassed their nearest government school – Lowanna College. The Express contacted the department on Friday, after concerns were raised by parents, but it is yet to respond to a series of questions lodged. Parents are concerned only some of the town’s residents are being billed for the bus, based on distance from the school, despite the fact all students are picked up from the general store, regardless of their address. The department has also not responded to reports Trafalgar High’s advanced learning students are exempt from the fare as the program is not offered at Lowanna. Trafalgar High School is also yet to comment.

By PHILIP HOPKINS   OPAL, which is suing the state government $402 million for breach of contract, lost more than 350 employees when white paper production was forced to close at the Maryvale Paper Mill because the government did not supply the hardwood timber guaranteed in the Wood Pulp Agreement. Before the government’s alleged breach of contract, the Maryvale Paper Mill employed more than 850 team members, Opal documents show. Its operations supported direct and flow-on jobs across Victoria. The mill now employs more than 500 team members and is still a major employer in the Latrobe Valley, where it has operated since 1937. Despite the white paper closure, Maryvale Mill still generates $387 million in revenue annually, employing 539 full-time equivalent workers who receive $90 million in wages and salaries. A report by consultancy REMPLAN for Opal, says this direct economic activity generates about $111.1 million in value-added to Latrobe City’s Gross Regional Product. Following this direct impact, demand for intermediate goods and services is likely to increase revenue for local supply chain industreis by $164.3m, support 304 supply-chain-related jobs and generate a further $55.1 million in value-added. These supply chain effects include multiple rounds of flow-on supply chain effects: pulp, paper and paperboard manufacturing boosted by $25.6 million; professional, scientific and technical services $16.7 million, and basic chemical, cleaning and polymer manufacturing by $14.2 million. The total output impact in Latrobe City is $622 million. For every dollar of direct spending, a further $0.61 is captured elsewhere in the municipality. Opal alleged the state government breached its wood supply agreement made in 1996 with Amcor, the then operator of the Maryvale Mill, to supply pulpwood. The agreement was due to expire in June 2030. In 1998, Amcor assigned its rights top Paper Australia P/L, now trading as Opal. Under the agreement, the government state-owned enterprise VicForests provided Opal with eucalypt wood, a critical material for white paper production. In November 2022, the government advised Opal it would be unable to fulfill its contractual obligations to supply wood. For the 2022-23 financial year, a reduced supply of wood was supplied to Opal by VicForests. Opal says the government did not intend to supply any wood in the future, forcing the company to terminate the agreement in May 2023. With no viable wood alternative to replace the wood supply, Opal was forced to close its white pulp and paper production at Maryvale in early 2023, resulting in the loss of more than 400 jobs across Australia. “The closure, together with the reduction in production volumes, consequential redundancies an d the severe commercial impacts on the entire Opal Group arising from the loss of its white pulp and paper business, has caused – and continues to cause – Opal to suffer substantial loss and damage,” the company said in a statement. Opal hoped the Supreme Court action would determine the matter “fairly and in a timely manner.”