Sad loss of industry leader
From the Spring 2006 edition of Bush Telegraph Magazine.
Mr John Sparkes. Photo courtesy SEFE.
New South Wales Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald, has paid tribute to the general manager of South East Fibre Exports (SEFE) at Eden, Mr John Sparkes, who died suddenly while travelling in Canada in May.
Mr Sparkes joined the parent company of SEFE, Harris Daishowa Australia, in 1980 and became general manager around 1993.
“John led the company with flair and stability over many years, including several periods of intense public focus and change which significantly affected the timber industry,” Mr Macdonald said.
“The Harris Daishowa Australia enterprise was the first Australian woodchip export operation. It attracted considerable controversy and through John’s firm strategic vision it has survived and prospered.
“John had a strong interest in safety and implemented the transition in the company’s contractor base from entirely manual felling operations into one almost entirely equipped with mechanised felling systems.”
Mr Macdonald said John’s most recent safety campaign was to reduce the risks to drivers and the general public from log trucks hauling to the South East Fibre Exports mill.
“John was also heavily involved in the development of the forestry and timber industry’s strategic vision,” Mr Macdonald said.
“He was an active member of the National Association of Forest Industries board and also a member of my Forest and Forest Products Advisory Council through which I came to appreciate his strategic view of forestry and the timber industry,” Mr Macdonald said.
