A regional community is bracing for another bruising round of job cuts, as an embattled paper mill claims the state government is to blame.
Opal Australian Paper has announced about 84 positions will be made redundant at its Maryvale mill in Victoria as it presses on with a restructure.
The proposed job cuts are another blow for the Latrobe Valley, where the plant has been one of the region’s largest employers for decades.
Hundreds of workers were laid off in 2023, a move the mill’s owner claims it was forced to make after the state government cut off its supply of wood.
Gippsland Trades and Labour Council secretary Steve Dodd said regional workers and their families were still paying the price years later.
“Those workers thought they had a job for life,” he told AAP.
“Can you imagine working in a job for 25 years and then hearing that?”
His organisation was just finalising a report on the work done to support workers affected by the 2023 layoffs when he was made aware of the fresh redundancies late on Thursday, he said.
“It’s just another bit of a blow for this region,” he said.
The Latrobe Valley has suffered significant industry, manufacturing and mining job losses in recent years, including following the Hazelwood power station’s closure in 2017.
Opal said in a statement that the redundancies were the latest in ongoing efforts to right-size its operations since it stopped producing white paper in 2023.
“The decision on proposed changes to the workforce at the Maryvale mill has been difficult yet is necessary to position it for the future,” the company said.
It argues it was forced to do so after the state government announced it would stop supplying it the wood it needed, contrary to an existing agreement.
That followed a barrage of court cases that effectively halted native timber harvest production in Victoria, before it was eventually banned from 2024.
At the time, the government cited increasingly severe bushfires and prolonged legal action as the reason for the early closure.
Opal announced in late 2025 it had filed proceedings in the Supreme Court against the state government for the alleged failure, seeking more than $400 million in damages.
It claims it followed years of discussions with the government and was needed to remedy the loss of more than 400 jobs nationwide.
The latest redundancies will affect salaried team members and workers under the plant’s enterprise agreements, the company said.
It will also include previously announced roles still in consultation, roles not filled following voluntary departures or the end of fixed-term contracts and voluntary redundancies.
Opal said it would consult with affected workers with an eye to redeploying them across the Maryvale site and broader network where possible.
“The mill remains a valued part of Opal’s paper and packaging business,” it said.
A Victorian government spokesperson said it had backed Opal Australian Paper to support and train workers impacted as part of the forestry transition.
“We recognise this will be a difficult and uncertain time and will continue to work with the company to provide support for affected workers,” the spokesperson said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
“As the matter is before the courts, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
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