Merry Xmas Gunns style as another mill closes, 200 jobs go. Another 300 jobs set to go in next four months......Tasmanian Loggers not satisfied with taxpayer freebie.

.............."Timber giant Gunns today closed a major woodchip mill in north-west Tasmania, leaving up to 200 timber workers out of work and another 300 likely to meet the same fate in the next four months. It is the first of several closures for the company as it tries to move away from old-growth logging and towards plantation timber. Rodney Bishop, who has been cutting down trees near his small town of Smithton for 30 years, says he and his wife Jan are closing their contracting business today"......................."The Federal Government yesterday made offers of assistance to loggers wanting to exit the industry, but only 30 of the 80 who applied were successful. Mr Bishop was one of the lucky ones. "Without putting too fine a point, I think it's a pitiful amount of money for the situation we're in," he said...........Read More Here