The government announced on 20 July that Goprint would lose 40 of its 60 staff and be limited to jobs that “require a highly secure work environment”, such as Hansard.

The state printer is expected to do $8.9 million of work this year and lose $3.6 million, according to the Minister for Public Works, Bruce Flegg.

Mitchell Simpson, managing director of Brisbane-based Tennyson Group, told ProPrint it was illogical for the government to run a loss-making printer.

“It’s not like it’s infrastructure that a government needs to control. If they privatised electricity, they should have privatised printing a long time ago. It’s not an essential service,” he said.

Tom Lusch, owner of one of Brisbane’s largest independent printers, Platypus Graphics, said the government could only justify running a printing business if it was profitable.

“I believe [the government’s decision] is good news because all of a sudden you’re not competing with a company that’s losing money. Whatever work they were doing will flow back out into the market,” he said.

However, Phil Watt, chief executive of Cranbrook Colour, located in the Brisbane suburb of Geebung, warned that Premier Campbell Newman’s budget cutting might mean the government reduced its printing.

Susan Heaney, managing director of Gold Coast-based Heaneys Performers in Print, also noted that the government might expect printing to be provided at unrealistic prices.

Matthew Whitton, owner of Fast Proof Press, said while he expected that to be the case, he wasn’t worried, as the Gold Coast outfit largely avoided the public sector.

“We don’t do a lot for government, mainly because of margins… We’ve pitched for some of the work, but can’t get close to it on price,” he said.

One Brisbane printer warned Queensland might follow the lead of the Federal government and actively drive down margins.

“If price is the only criteria, as an industry we’re stuffed,” he said.

Print Approach managing director Tom Eckersley told ProPrint that the previous Queensland government put margins under great pressure in 2009 by forming its print management unit.

“[That unit has] effectively driven a stake through the heart of the printing industry already.”

He said it would be fairer if the government eliminated centralised tendering and authorised each department to manage its own print buying.

All the businesses ProPrint spoke to were pleased Goprint was exiting commercial printing – although Eckersley said some South-East Queensland printers might actually be unhappy at the loss of such an “inept” competitor.

“They couldn’t get anything done on time and so made the industry look exceptionally good – which it is,” he said.

The Printing Industries Association of Australia congratulated the government on its “hard decision” to exit commercial printing and said it would be “happy to work with the government and other agencies to find employment for Goprint staff”.

Goprint celebrated its 150th anniversary in February and recently became implicated in a political scandal when it emerged the treasurer of the ruling Liberal National Party had visited the printer as part of a review into its finances.

Click here to read more about the government’s approach to print buying.

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