LNP Members fight for Cooroy Mountain Spring Water jobs
12th April, 2012
Local LNP Members of Parliament have joined together to call on the liquidators of Cooroy Mountain Spring Water to give priority to protecting local jobs when it comes to assess bids for the future of the business.Federal Member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss, State Member for Buderim and Minister for National Parks, Recreation, Sport & Racing, Steve Dickson and State Member for Noosa Glen Elmes, today appealed to the liquidators, KordaMentha, to consider the importance of Cooroy Mountain Spring Water to the local community when it makes a decision on the future of the company in the days ahead.
“Cooroy Mountain Spring Water is one of Cooroy’s largest businesses, employing more than 60 people. Their jobs must be secured and KordaMentha needs to keep those employees and their families in mind during their deliberations on the company’s future,” Mr Truss said.
“Cooroy has suffered from the closure of its timber mill in 2000 and from earlier changes to the dairy industry. Cooroy Mountain Spring Water needs to be held in local hands which understand both the business and the community and the importance of the business to the local economy,” Mr Dickson said.
“KordaMentha needs to understand that Cooroy Mountain Spring Water is a local business, built on the hard work of locals and deserves to be kept in local hands. Jobs at Cooroy Mountain Spring Water need to be protected and the liquidator must consider the merits of offers for the business which will protect those jobs,” Mr Elmes said.
A number of bids are expected to be received for Cooroy Mountain Spring Water, including a bid from Coca Cola Amatil. It is rumoured that if the Coca Cola Amatil bid succeeds, it will move to tanker the water to other bottling plants and close the local operations, resulting in significant job losses.
“Cooroy’s mountain water is a precious local resource and too valuable to simply be trucked away returning nothing to the area,” Mr Truss said.
“The Australian water beverage industry is already led by a duopoly, with Coca Cola Amatil and Asahi the two leading participants. If Cooroy Mountain Spring Water is devoured by a multinational, it strengthens that duopoly and weakens competition, leaving consumers worse off.
“This week I have written to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) to point out the potential loss of competition implications of the Coca Cola Amatil bid. The ACCC should pay very close attention to the bid by Coca Cola Amatil and its broader impact on the beverage market. There is a strong case for the ACCC to reject any further concentration of the bottled water market,” Mr Truss said.
The LNP Members said they want their joint appeal to the liquidator to reinforce overwhelming community support, to ensure that the bid which secures Cooroy Mountain Spring Water jobs is the one that succeeds.
“The bid that keeps Cooroy Mountain Spring Water open and locals in work is the bid that is best for the community and best for the economy,” the Members said.
