The Australian Public Service will have to revert back to importing about a million reams of paper a year after the country's only white copy paper manufacturer paused production.
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Japanese-owned Opal Australian Paper has been forced to shut its Gippsland machine after all native forest logging was stopped in Victoria, meaning the mill can't get pulp fibre supply.
It's because the Supreme Court ruled that the state's logging agency VicForests must carry out better surveys for certain endangered species such as greater gliders.
Opal makes brands such as Reflex and some recycled brands which were also processed from the same machine that was switched off. The public service is, unsurprisingly, a massive buyer of paper.
The last roll of paper came off the line at the end of December, meaning all locally-manufactured paper is forecast to run out in March.
According to the manufacturing union, the freeze on production will also affect doctor prescription pads, envelopes, utility bills and some paper bags.
The APS committed to procuring all its copy paper from Australia a couple of years ago, after the unions raised concerns it was using only 30 per cent locally-made paper in 2020.
The Federal Stationery and Office Supplies Contract procured just more than a million reams of paper in 2019 and 2020, down from 1.2 million reams the year before at a cost of $6.1 million.
Office Brands chief executive Adam Joy said large customers such as government agencies are already being shoehorned into purchasing imported paper.
"We may have a repeat of the toilet paper fiasco like we had in COVID. There is just enough Australian-made paper to get through February if we are lucky," Mr Joy said.
"Whole-of-government contracts buy from our members and we are already seeking paper from India, Thailand and Indonesia."
The CMMFEU manufacturing division is calling on the government to intervene to keep the mill open to secure Australian jobs and supply.
This would require a change in the Victorian forestry code of conduct to allow the loggers back into the native forests.
Meanwhile, VicForests is planning to appeal the court's decision in March.
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CMMFEU pulp and paper secretary Denis Campbell-Burns said government agencies need to urgently audit existing stocks of Australian-made paper.
"We need the Gipplsand mill to stay open or we will rely on 100 per cent imported paper. This is putting Australians out of work," she said.
"We must make sure where our paper comes from and be confident it meets the same environmental standards we have here."
The Victorian government has a transition plan to stop all native logging by 2030 and transition into hardwood plantations.
But Ms Campbell-Burns said there were not enough mature hardwood plantations ready to harvest.
East Gippsland Environment Centre coordinator and Supreme Court case plaintiff Jill Redwood said there were plantations ready to go in west Victoria, but they were being exported.
"It would be good to make our own paper but it must run on plantations and not rely on smashing down critically endangered Ash forests, and not changing the laws to do so," Ms Redwood said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said it was in talks with the Victorian government on strategies to supplement timber supply.
An Opal spokeswoman said the company was looking at alternative pulp supplies and was keeping its customers and key stakeholders updated on further developments.
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