Mossman growers urged to consider options in wake of mill collapse

Mossman growers have been urged not to make any major decisions about the management of their 2024 cane crop until any options for successfully harvesting the crop have been fully exhausted.

CANEGROWERS is continuing discussions with the Administrator, the State Government and other potential stakeholders to look for the best possible outcome given the circumstances.

“Local CANEGROWERS representatives are still working with a number of parties behind the scenes to see if there is any way we can get this year’s crop off,” CANEGROWERS CEO Dan Galligan said.

“I know growers are frustrated and feeling very pessimistic about the future, but I would urge them not to make any decisions until the dust settles and all options have been exhausted.”

The small north Queensland community was dealt a devastating blow late last month, with a mystery investor pulling the plug on plans to purchase the local sugar mill, sending the region’s single largest employer into liquidation.

The mill’s parent company, the Daintree Bio Precinct Group, had been facing liquidation since going into voluntary administration last November.

The company received a lifeline on 29 February, when creditors supported a proposal put forward by an unnamed investor who stepped in at the last minute with plans to save the mill. But those plans collapsed on 21 March, with the investor backing out of the deal just before the end of a 15-business day statutory deadline.

“It’s heartbreaking, not just for growers and the local sugar industry, but for the whole Mossman community,” CANEGROWERS Mossman Chairman Matt Watson said.

“Local growers have been backing this business for years through investment in our crops and in the mill itself, and we had high hopes when this investor approached the company administrator with a plan to save the mill.

“They laid out their plans for bringing the mill back to profitability over the next four years, before transitioning into a green energy hub.

“To have those hopes crushed at the last minute and for the investor to simply walk away from the community is just devastating.”

CANEGROWERS immediately called on the State Government to honour its commitment to provide the $12 million in funding, announced by Premier Steven Miles at a Community Cabinet meeting in Cairns on 28 February. However, growers have been left in limbo, with the government announcing that money would go to a ‘Transition Program’.

The initial response would be focused on helping “workers find new jobs, access upskilling or training, as well as counselling services” a government statement said.

CANEGROWERS CEO Dan Galligan said many local businesses would suffer if this year’s crop was not crushed.

“Growers have already invested more than $14 million into this year’s crop and the harvest is rapidly approaching. We need the government to come through on its funding commitment so that growers can recoup as much of that money as possible, otherwise a lot of families and businesses in the town will go to the wall,” Mr Galligan said.

“This is not just about growers getting paid, it’s also about mill workers, suppliers, tradies, businesses of all shapes and sizes, right across the region. Growers have put millions into this crop, but if they can’t get it harvested, more than $40 million will be lost to the community.

“Now is the time for government to step up and support the entire community by ensuring we can get this crop off,” he said.

At the time of printing the State Government had agreed to meet directly with cane growers in the region to discuss the transition package and options for the management of their crop.