Sugar saga drags on

BY BRUCE RUSSELL

Paul Mock and Jim Hughes - trying to get a deal for cane growers.

Despite deadlines being set and broken, at the time of going to press, the future of the CJ Ord sugar mill was still anyone's guess.

Cane Growers Association representatives Paul Mock and Jim Hughes flew down to Perth on Tuesday morning to meet with State Government representatives on Tuesday night.

They were then to sit down with Korean-owned CJ Ord Sugar representatives on Wednesday to try to thrash out some sort of deal whereby the millions of dollars of cane, still in the fields, could be harvested and processed.

Growers see this as a way ahead, meaning that any possible buyers for the mill will get a little more time before the Koreans decide to move the mill to Indonesia, effectively closing off the future of a sugar industry in the Ord Valley.

Politicians of both persuasions have seized on the issue, linking it to the Stage II development of the irrigation area.

For the State Government it seems to have been an excuse to back away from developing the area.

Their Opposition has been swift to criticise them for not allowing the inclusion of GM cotton in expressions of interest to develop Stage II.

The Federal Government has used the issue to criticise the State Government, although not as fervently as might be expected.

There are suggestions that the Federal Government will use Stage II as a 'big ticket item' in the lead up to the Federal election.

Meanwhile, the State Government gets away with not providing infrastructure for Stage II, allowing it to spend more money on its Perth-based projects such as the stadium, rail and freeway links.

The future of the mill was expected to be known by late today (Thursday).