Emotional meeting held over mill closures, Winstone Pulp considers closing entire operation

By Alexa Cook of RNZ

A public meeting about the proposed loss of 230 jobs at two central North Island mills was an emotional time for many, who spoke of their fears about what the closures will mean for their community.

Forestry products company Winstone Pulp International is looking at closing its entire operation due to high wholesale power prices.

• Winstone Pulp International employs 230 workers, mostly from local communities
• The company says it cannot keep operating due to skyrocketing spot prices for power.
• Its main power supplier is Mercury, which posted a net profit for 2023/24 of $290m, a 159% increase on the year before
• Local mayors are lobbying the Government to crack down on ‘price gouging’
• Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones is threatening to end the Electricity Authority if it doesn’t “man up” and flex its authority.

On Tuesday night in Raetihi’s church hall every chair was taken, children sat on the ground and many locals stood at the back as hui organiser Liz Brooker opened the floor for people to speak.

“This is bigger than 230 people, 230 jobs - this is our entire region,” she said.

One by one workers, their whānau, and other locals told the crowd, including the mills bosses and the National MP Suze Redmayne, that the closure is turning their lives upside down.

Many were brought to tears, they rely on the mill for work as it’s the biggest employer in the area. Aaron Mccann has been working there for 29 years.

“My father was there before me, for 33 years, now my son has just started and he’s been there for a year now -so three generations at the pulp mill,” he said.

Tears filled his eyes as he explained how he’s not just losing a job, but his son too.

“What’s going to change is my son will be moving away, he’ll go to Australia,” he said.

The crowd at the meeting discussing the closure of Winstone Pulp International at Raetihi's community hall on Tuesday. Photo / Alexa Cook RNZ

Aaron’s mate Duane Dixon was at the meeting with him, they’ve been working together, on the same shift, for every one of those 29 years.

“We’ve been a very tight knit group for a long time and as you can see from today we’ve still got each other’s backs, probably always will,” he said.

Some people are already moving away from the area, but Dixon said while he’ll fight to stay put, he might not have much choice.

“I don’t want to move away, this is my home but if I have to support my family I’ll do what I have to do,” said Dixon.

Something Daniel Abernathy was also worried about, he’s an electrician at the mill.

“It’s a pretty sad place at the mill at the moment. There’s a lot of worry and people are just wondering what they’re going to do, where they’re going to go, how they’re going to get a job, how they’re going to get by.

“The company itself has been fantastic - the shareholders, the board, they’ve all been fantastic, they don’t want to shut the mill, they want to keep it open.. it’s just the way it is with power prices at the moment, basically,” he said.

Winstone’s chief financial officer Glenn Whiting looked shaken as he took to the stage, saying it’d been a tough few weeks as he thanked the community for their support.

Mayor Weston Kirton vowed this was not the end of the mill.

“I’m quite convinced we are going to get this right. I’m going to do my utmost,” he said.

He wants the government to offer an electricity subsidy to Winstone’s, as it did repeatedly for the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter.

But National MP Suze Redmayne would make no such promises - saying the coalition was putting pressure on power companies to come up with their own solutions.

“And then we are also going to work with the Electricity Authority to make sure they’re doing what they should be doing, If not we will look into that,” she said.

If the government does make a move it needs to be a quick one, as the clock is ticking. Winstone’s consultation with its workers closes on Monday and the two mill sites are expected to shut down by early October.