[Pil-pc-oceania] CSIRO Scour closure

Tue Apr 8 15:32:28 EST 2008

I'm not sure how attachments go on PIL, so I've cut and pasted the article below. For people interested in wool on a small scale, please read this.

Imminent Closure of Vital Wool Industry Infrastructure.

The CSIRO has, for many years, run a small research scour at its Geelong Textiles and Fibre
Division. The scour has supplemented income to the CSIRO Geelong division, by taking in small lot
commercial contract work when the machine was not being used for research purposes. In many cases this
work was the type that larger Australian commercial scours refused to take on, as the lots were either too
small for their machines, or contained coloured fibre which they would not touch for fear of contamination
issues. The CSIRO scour therefore became an integral part of the development of the Rare Natural Fibre
Industries; Cashmere, Alpaca, Mohair and Coloured and Fine wools. All of those Australian produced and
Australian processed products made from these fibres, that we see in shops and stalls at craft markets, fairs
and farmers markets, will have been scoured at the CSIRO scour before being further processed by small
boutique Australian textile processors.

The CSIRO is now determined to close down & sell their scouring plant. Representatives from the
small boutique Australian textile processors as well as cashmere, alpaca, mohair,coloured wool & ultra fine
wool interests , have united in the fight to keep the scour here in Australia; if possible at the CSIRO. The
closure of this scour will impact upon thousands of Australian individuals and small businesses as well as a
small number of large Australian Companies (who use the scour's research capabilities with pesticides and
detergents).

The fibre which is contract scoured by the CSIRO scour is made into high value goods, some of which
is sold locally but much of which is exported to Europe and other high end markets. One of our members is a
fine example of this, his Jemala ultra fine wool products sells luxurious jumpers for 1100 euro in Paris.
http://www.jemala.com.au/index.html

According to our calculations there should be enough contract scouring work going through the scour for it
to be a profitable business. The scour is NOT being closed down due to lack of future demand.
The scour is closing down because there has been a massive reduction in funds coming into the CSIRO
facility in Geelong over past years. Funds to run the CSIRO Geelong Textile and Fibre Technology division
have traditionally come form levy money from wool sales matched by federal government grants. The wool
clip has decreased rather dramatically over the past decade due to fewer sheep numbers (drought, low wool
prices & Johnes Disease have contributed to reduction in sheep numbers). AWI (Australian Wool
Innovations) is the body which currently decides how wool levy money will be spent. In 2007 AWI decided
to greatly reduce the amount of levy money used for research & development & instead, in their wisdom,
decided to use wool producers levy money to focus upon the marketing of Australian wool. This decision has
further reduced research funds to the Geelong CSIRO facility.In order to survive the CSIRO has made a
shift in focus from wool & animal fibres to high tech fibres.

The Head of the CSIRO Geelong Division is advising Rare Natural Fibre producers to send their
fibre offshore for scouring; amazing advice given that the introduction of product embedded carbon is
imminent. If scouring is done overseas then it will logically follow that subsequent
processing will be done overseas and local small fibre processors will be forced to close through lack of
work. So not only will we lose the ability to buy Australian grown and processed natural fibre products, but
we will also lose the technical knowledge required to preform processing tasks. Scouring overseas is not a
sensible option. Australian fibre industries need the CSIRO scour to remain in Australia and to be accessible
for both research and contract work.

How can I help
to save the CSIRO scour?

1.   
Write
to our government representatives expressing your concern over the closure of
the CSIRO scour. You can
write your own letter or use the template letter provided, adding to it or
changing sections to suit yourself. We suggest you address correspondence to:-

          Senator Kim Carr,

          Minister For Industry, Innovation,
Science and Research,

          Suite M1 48

          Parliament House

          Canberra ACT 2600.

senator.carr at aph.gov.au

With copies to:-

          cc.

Tony Burke,

          Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries
and Forestry,

          Suite
M1 26

          Parliament
House

          Canberra
ACT 2600

          Tony.Burke.MP at aph.gov.au

             cc.Your local members of parliament (both
Federal and State)

2.   
Tell
others about our cause and encourage them to write letters and lobby the
relevant Ministers  and politicians as
well.

3.   
Visit
and contribute to our blog on the internet.

Australian Natural Fibres

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