Trethewey Industries, Deepwater

Hansard & Papers " Legislative Assembly " 25 September 2007 " Full Day Hansard Transcript " Item 40 of 52 "
Trethewey Industries, Deepwater
About this Item
Speakers - Torbay Mr Richard
Business - Private Members Statements

TRETHEWEY INDUSTRIES, DEEPWATER
Page: 2242

Mr RICHARD TORBAY (Northern Tablelands-Speaker) [5.39 p.m.]: I always wince when I hear people talk about the country in lame-duck terms as if the only things its communities experience are droughts, floods, bushfires and hard times. If I were to be perfectly honest I would admit that we sometimes bring it on ourselves, ably assisted by the media, but in reality this image could not be more inaccurate. In the Northern Tablelands, which I am proud to represent, the economic barometer is metering booming times. Almost all of our centres are experiencing unprecedented growth, new investment and development. This can be attributed to a number of factors, but new technology is certainly driving a large slice of this growth.
One shining example I want to draw to the attention of the House is a factory in Deepwater, a small village with a population of around 300, on the New England Highway between Glen Innes and Tenterfield. Recently I was invited to lunch at Trethewey Industries to inspect a factory in the town which produces the most advanced auto balers for recycling cardboard in Australia. Reg Trethewey, the principal of the company, designed the machines after talks with Visy Industries and representatives of retailing giants Coles and Woolworths. It took him 14 months to produce a machine to automatically compress cardboard cartons for recycling. Previous models required staff to operate cardboard recycling machines that were not as flexible as the new Trethewey model.
Trethewey Industries now employs 30 staff at its Deepwater factory and produces three to four auto balers a week, ranging from a 50-kilogram unit to a whopping 550-kilogram machine. In all, the range includes nine models. Since the Sydney 2000 Olympics, when the auto balers first came to national attention, the company has sold well over 1,000 machines and can hardly keep up with the waiting list. Clients include Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings, councils, shopping centres and recycling depots. Units are being shipped to New Zealand, with plans under way to manufacture them in Canada and the United States, where there are already orders for 35,000 auto balers.

More than 60 per cent of cartons in Australia are made from recycled cardboard, and this is expected to increase to 100 per cent in the near future. It means a bright future for the small manufacturing and engineering firm Trethewey Industries, which already has a long history of successful innovation and bringing products to market. The company was formed in 1980 by Reg Trethewey to manufacture and market the world's first self-pinning wool presses, which Reg had designed. After the wool crash of the late 1980s severely reduced sales Reg designed innovative cattle-handling equipment that is still being sold and has been licensed out to other companies who are successfully supplying it into the United States. However, it is the demand for the auto baler that is driving the company's current expansion and employment opportunities in Deepwater.
A major part of this expansion in the town's industrial estate was the start-up of StarLogixs by Reg's brother Mark and his wife, Deanne. The company was established in 2001 to manage and control the production of electronics for the auto baler but has gone on to develop key technologies for non-voltage detectors for the power industry and other products. The company sources skills and equipment from all over the world with its printed circuit board assemblies made by contract manufacturers in Australia and overseas. Its products are distributed throughout Australia and New Zealand with markets opening up in the United States, Canada and South America. The company is also selling remote radio-control equipment and is currently working with the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia to promote a new product for radio stations.
These rapidly growing enterprises have given Deepwater an edge in several key growth global industries. The Trethewey family sees that it can operate successfully and expand its business from a regional base using sophisticated communications technology, modern banking systems and an excellent freight service. The family told me they see many competitive advantages, both globally and nationally, in operating from a country centre because of the lower costs involved. The company has a stable workforce and is providing training and employment opportunities for young people who might otherwise have been forced to leave the area. This is not an isolated success story from a rural region but it is one that I am proud to tell today. It is another positive example of what is happening in the country and it should alert governments, of all persuasions and at both levels, to the need to increase the advantages of new technology throughout the State to service these growing and innovative country-based initiatives.