Australia's richest man, cardboard king Anthony Pratt, says he will invest $2 billion over the next decade to expand his Visy cardboard and recycling business in Australia and create 5,000 new jobs.
Pratt announced the plan alongside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at Visy's $1.1 billion pulp and paper mill at Tumut in southern NSW. The mill just completed a $100 million upgrade.
"We are one of the most environmentally committed companies so much of the $2 billion will be spent on technologies that not only create high-paying manufacturing jobs, but also enhance sustainability and energy security," said Pratt.
Visy currently has 120 sites in Australia and that could expand that to 200 over the next decade. Pratt said Visy would build more clean energy plants and investigate bringing in Swedish technology that incinerates waste with zero emissions.
"Part of that $2 billion will certainly be spent on clean energy plants. We've got three already – Tumut, Coolaroo in Melbourne, and Brisbane – and we’re about to have a fourth in Sydney.
Pratt Industries, Visy’s sister company, plans a similar $2 billion investment in the United States, which Pratt announced to President Donald Trump at a dinner in New York in May.
Trump said at the time: "To Anthony Pratt, who just pledged $2 billion, and that peanuts for Anthony, if you know Anthony. Come on Anthony, you can do better than that. Thank you, thank you very much, Anthony, that's beautiful."
Pratt – who’s personal fortune is estimated at $12.6 billion - also welcomed the arrival of US retail giant Amazon in Australia. "We've had discussions, but I can't say much more than that. But I will say Amazon is a great company.
"Amazon is one of our most important and biggest customers in the United States. They have grown from zero in 1997 to become the world's largest buyer of corrugated boxes."