East Gippsland loggers face an uncertain future and Brenton Akeroyd has disappointment written all over his face.
The 23-year-old logger, from Bruthen, is in a coupe near Brookville with his father, Jason, a logging contractor, preparing to pull out their machinery following a decision by VicForests to stand down its native forest logging contractors.
The call followed a ruling in the Supreme Court last month, in a case involving Environment East Gippsland, that the state-owned enterprise’s pre-harvest surveys were inadequate and it was not doing enough to protect two possum species – greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders.
“We’ve been told that the shutdown is for at least three months, but it could be forever,” Brenton said.
“It’s nearly 100 per cent guaranteed that we’re shutdown.
“We all knew this day was coming.”
A third generation logger, Brenton has never known any other work. The impact on him and his fellow workers is dire.
IMAGE: East Gippsland loggers Brenton Akeroyd, Jason Akeroyd, Lance Collings and Michael Cordery are facing a bleak future without work since a recent court decision lead to VicForests halting logging operations. K407-8697
