National Party deputy leader Shane Reti says the decision by Carter Holt Harvey to stop supplying structural timber to all but its largest customers shows the folly of it closing its Whangārei mill a year ago.
The Commerce Commission has launched an enquiry into why the timber giant will supply Placemakers and Carter Building supplies but not Bunnings, ITM or Mitre 10.
Dr Reti says it’s another blow to the Government’s housing plans.
"Carter Holt thought 'we're doing fine. We've got the mill in Kawerau that will pick up the slack so we will lay off 150-plus workers in Whangārei and we will be fine.' Of course that's now not true and we can see the consequences of that and if our wood supply is down, that is another problem for us," he says.
Dr Reti says the Government’s housing package released this week is just tinkering at the edges, and National wants to see faster action on replacing the Resource Management Act.
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