Jobs Felled: Forestry workers cut
amid company shake-up
Dozens of islanders have woken without a job this morning
after Kiland shed the majority of its forestry workers.
By DANIEL CLARKE
29/04/26
Kangaroo Island is reeling from more mass job losses today after the company reverting fire-ravaged timber plantations to farmland unexpectedly felled about half its total on-ground staff.
Kiland management called forestry workers into their headquarters near Parndana yesterday and abruptly told 34 employees they were being laid off.
In a chaotic day for the company and its shocked workers, a trial burn of logged trees within the company’s Binnowie plantation at Gosse breached its boundaries, growing rapidly from a planned eight hectares to about 130.
With only a skeleton crew working for Kiland who could be quickly called upon to assist, two CFS appliances attended the blaze to help bring it under control about 7pm last night.
The Island Independent spoke exclusively with a former employee of the company who witnessed yesterday’s sombre meeting at Kiland’s headquarters.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the employee – who was one of the 34 made redundant - said the process of breaking the bad news was “shocking” and that "it was handled poorly".
“It was distressing for all of us standing there watching people go in, knowing that if they came out holding an envelope they’d been let go and if they didn’t they were still employed," the source said.
“The whole process felt insensitive. For people already under significant stress, having such a visible, public way of identifying who had lost their job only made things worse. It left many feeling upset and understandably angry.
“What made it even more concerning was how mental health support was addressed. We were told that if we needed help, there was a brochure inside the redundancy envelope with contact details. To me that approach felt inadequate and dismissive. Some people were so overwhelmed or frustrated that they simply walked away”.
A spokesperson for Kiland told Island Independent that it was making a "significant operational transition" as it scales back new timber harvesting on Kangaroo Island to refocus on establishing agricultural operations across its cleared land assets.
"Over recent years, Kiland has invested heavily in the complex process of reverting former forestry plantations back to high-quality agricultural use," the spokesperson said. "With substantial land clearing now achieved, the company is shifting its primary focus to remediation, soil improvement, and active sowing.
"With much regret, the change in Kiland’s priorities and land management practices will mean reducing our workforce, mainly within our tree-felling operations. The members of the tree-felling team whose roles have been made redundant are directly employed by Kiland contractor AAG Labour Services.
"We are committed to supporting affected employees, including ensuring they receive their full entitlements such as unpaid annual leave and superannuation, along with providing access to important support services and assistance."
The former employee said all skidder drivers, apart from one supervisor, have lost their jobs.
"The small number of feller bunchers (tree harvesters) and koala spotters being retained are expected to have employment for only another year or so.
“Over the past month or so, skidder operators have been building large burn piles. Now management has determined it is more cost effective to simply fell the trees in a way that allows them to be burned in place, so that removes the need for skidder operations altogether. In doing so, they’ve made many roles redundant.
“Many of the staff who had been made redundant spent the day making calls and trying to secure new jobs, but some are still grappling with what comes next. It was a bloody sad day.”
In 2022 Kiland, formerly Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers, announced plans to convert its 4.5 million tonnes of fire-damaged blue gum timber into about 900,000 tonnes of biochar. It has been reverting its 18,600 hectares of plantations to agricultural land and is reportedly retaining its employees on the farming side of the business.
The strategic change in direction came after plans to export the timber via a proposed deep-water port at Smith Bay was scuttled by the Liberal State Government in 2021.
The ex-employee said it is believed Wundowie Carbon, the new company running the biochar project, plans to buy the remaining standing blue gum plantations but Kiland would retain ownership of the land.
"The biochar company doesn’t want the remaining trees cut until they are ready for biochar production. They already have about seven or eight years of product to work through at the Macgill farm alone.”
The mass job losses come a month after the announcement that Yumbah Aquaculture would close its Smith Bay abalone farm, costing 15 permanent jobs and up to 30 seasonal positions.
Kangaroo Island Mayor Michael Pengilly said in a social media post yesterday that it was “not a good day for many”.
“The fact is we have 34 people out of work, families and individuals without income, and no doubt financial commitments to meet,” the Mayor said.
“If you are aware of work around KI please put it out there. We need as a community to once again rally around to assist these people as much as possible.”