Louise Upston Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The local MP for Taupō Louise Upston says the government can not save every business, the morning after the Save Our Mill community meeting in Tokoroa.
Kinleith Mill's owner Oji Fibre Solutions, announced in November that it was stopping paper production after June 2025, with up to 230 jobs to be cut.
Upston was one of around 500 people who attended the meeting on Monday night, along with Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones, as well as contingents from the Greens and Te Pāti Māori.
Kinleith workers and Tokoroa community members have been desperately raising awareness of the cost these job losses would have on the area - in the hopes that the government might intervene.
While Upston was encouraged OGE Fibre Solutions had extended the consultation period with workers, she told Morning Report the government can not step in and save every business.
"The reality is we've seen, you know, in economic challenging times, like the recession we've been in and out of for the last couple of years, there's been a number of businesses that have made the very difficult decision to close," she said.
"That's very hard on the workers and their families, and it's very hard on the community. But that is a reality. Unemployment often follows a recession and the government can't step in and save every business."
However, Upston said the consultation period allowed more time for the company and the community to see if there were any options.
The government had been in regular contact with the company, but nothing had come out to date, she added.
"We've been in and out of recession for the last couple of years. It makes it incredibly difficult for businesses to operate. And they have said that the paper side of the business has not been profitable for the last couple of years. It means businesses have to make tough decisions.
"It just reinforces why, as a government, we have to focus on rebuilding the economy so that we don't see these sorts of proposals coming out of large businesses in rural New Zealand."
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