By Leonie Wood
IN SOME parts of western Victoria, there are so many eucalyptus plantations that the highways seem to be walled with dark green carpet.
It's a phenomenon Justice Ross Robson of the Victorian Supreme Court probably suffers in his own courtroom; one day he is asked to rule on the failed Timbercorp group and the next he is grappling with bankrupt Great Southern Plantations.
He can't seem to get away from the companies. As the judge told counsel yesterday, his weekend drive took him down a long highway flanked on one side by huge stands of timber owned by Timbercorp and on the other by forests belonging to Great Southern.
Yesterday it was Great Southern's turn in court and, after several hours Justice Robson gave a preliminary green light for receivers of the ruined group to borrow yet more funds from three of Great Southern's four secured financiers that are already owed about $380 million.
The banks have agreed to pour another $45 million into Great Southern to ensure that the company's receivers have enough funds to protect and maintain Great Southern's vast timber, almond, olive and vineyard investment schemes until mid-2010.
The court heard Great Southern's receivers had no funds to pay rent for the land the crops are on, or to pay for fertiliser, water, pest control, fencing, firebreaks, road maintenance and harvesting. The employee bill alone is expected to top $6 million this year.
Norman O'Bryan, SC, for Great Southern's receivers, told the court there was ''no guarantee'' the $45 million would be recovered and the banks knew it was ''a risk''.
''On the other hand you have the practical certainty that if you did not spend this money, or some part of it, these schemes will literally and metaphorically wither on the vine,'' Mr O'Bryan said.
Justice Robson also gave a preliminary indication that the receivers could issue a lien to the banks, allowing them to secure the new loan against the assets of the schemes - the harvest proceeds - a security that would come before payments to Great Southern's 40,000 investor-growers.
In an affidavit filed by Great Southern receiver James Thackray of McGrathNicol, the court heard the receivers found disentangling the books and records of the responsible entity had been an extremely difficult task.
The receivers told the court that instead of attributing income and expenses to individual schemes, Great Southern's group accounts bundled income and expenses according to what type of crop was being grown.
Justice Robson said the receivers' description indicated the records were ''a mess''.