Young boy breaks down in tears after his father lost job at timber mill

A boy has burst into tears on television, crying that his family has “no money” now that his father has lost his job in the closure of Victoria’s native timber industry.

Grade 4 student Oliver Jones said he feared his family would be left without money if his father was laid off from his job at the timber mill in Heyfield, Victoria.

The indigenous timber industry is expected to close in early 2024, leaving thousands of local residents out of work.

Oliver joined several concerned local park residents protesting the closure, saying he had come out to “save his father’s job.”

“What will happen if he has no job, no money?” he told Channel Nine’s Today on Wednesday. “Can’t have food on the table.”

The timber industry is the lifeblood of many regional towns in Victoria

The Today reporter reached out to comfort Oliver as he burst into tears.

Victoria’s native timber industry is the lifeblood of many regional towns across the state, and the Jan. 1 shutdown is expected to cut about 4,500 jobs in regional communities.

Hundreds of Heyfield residents came out to protest the decision, hoping that the industry’s shutdown might be reversed.

Community members said they believed the industry would transition to plantation by 2030 and were blindsided by the early closure to early 2024.

Local resident Angela Savage said the decision had “such a huge ripple effect.”

Another local had a simple message: ‘timber towns don’t grow back’.

Defending the practice as “sustainable and renewable,” residents toured a nearby site to demonstrate how the native hardwoods are cut down before burning the area, allowing the space to regenerate itself on an 80-year cycle.

The indigenous timber industry continues in NSW and Tasmania, with workers devastated at the prospect of the timber being imported into Victoria.

Today, host Karl Stefanovic said he was deeply moved by seeing “that young guy’s tears.”

“You try to protect your children, but… the people of Gippsland are going through a lot,” he said.

Prime Minister Daniel Andrews defended the industry shutdown being brought forward by six years, a decision announced in the state budget earlier this month.

The Prime Minister said he was not “here to be popular”.

“I fully recognize that there were some very difficult decisions to be made in this budget, and I have no intention of putting things on hold,” he said.

“A number of rulings have been made by judges, not the government, and we have a plan to end domestic logging by the end of this decade.

“We’re going to wrap support around each of those workers and their families.”

The Victorian government pledged an additional $200 million to support workers and their families after bringing forward the transition from indigenous logging.

The expanded support package was announced earlier this month as part of the state budget, with government support for the transition to plantation timber now totaling more than $875 million.

Indigenous timber industry continues in NSW and Tasmania, with workers devastated at the prospect of the timber being imported into Victoria

The Victorian government has pledged an additional $200 million to support workers and their families following the transition from Indigenous logging (pictured, a child of one of the affected workers)

Prime Minister Daniel Andrews before Treasurer Tim Pallas presents the state budget at Parliament House (pictured)

Environmental groups and the Greens have welcomed the industry shutdown, with party leader Adam Bandt attributing the outcome to “ruthless people power.”

“To the activists who risked everything to protect First Nations heritage, Victoria’s forests and every creature they call home – thank you,” he said on Twitter.

State-owned logging company VicForests stopped harvesting in November 2023 following a Supreme Court ruling, limiting the industry’s output.

VicForests was found to have broken the law by failing to adequately protect two glider species in Central Victoria and Gippsland and was ordered to conduct more rigorous research on the yellow-bellied gliders and the endangered greater gliders, and to introduce environmental protections for the two species .

Severe bushfires, protracted litigation and court rulings were cited by the government as reasons for bringing the deadline forward.