The diamond jubilee of the Kimberly-Clark Australia Millicent Mill was celebrated on Tuesday when Premier Steven Marshall unveiled a commemorative plaque at a celebratory lunch.
As part of a one-day whistle-stop tour of the region, Mr Marshall congratulated the company on the achievement of six decades of operation and toured the plant. According to Mr Marshall, the success of the Millicent Mill was due to three factors.
They were the calibre and dedication of its workforce, the quality of its products and the willingness of KCA to make continuous investments. Tissue manufacture began at the greenfield site in mid-1960 but the 60th anniversary celebrations were postponed last year on account of the COVID protocols.
The celebrations on Tuesday were jointly hosted by mill manager Adam Carpenter and Sydney-based KCA managing director Doug Cunningham. Among the well-wishers were the region’s members of parliament Troy Bell, Tony Pasin and Nick McBride as well as representatives of local councils including Mount Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin and her Wattle Range Council counterpart Des Noll.
Federal CFMMEU secretary Michael O’Connor was part of the union contingent. COVID protocols meant an open invitation could not be extended to all past KCA employees. However, another guest of honour was Millicent resident Michael Scanlon who retired last year after 56 years with KCA and its kindred companies.
Erected on former Altschwager family farming land, the mill had an initial workforce of 90. It peaked at 1000 in the 1980s. The current workforce numbers around 400 company employees and contractors.
The KCA Millicent Mill is the company’s sole remaining manufacturing facility in Australia. Five of its sister plants have closed over the past 20 years at Tantanoola, Adelaide, Albury and Sydney. Meanwhile, the KCA plant was not the only timber products operation visited by Mr Marshall on Tuesday.
He held talks with industry figures in Mount Gambier, inspected the Borg mill and toured the Roundwood Solutions timber treatment plant at Tantanoola. His last stop was a seaside meeting with the Kingston District Council.
