Why We Don't Manufacture in China

When I first went to China 18 years ago, I had this dream of changing people's lives, create beautiful floors and create beautiful spaces inside wonderful Australian homes. And I can say that after we've installed 600,000 square meters of floors in Australian people's homes, and we've been really passionate about the sustainability of flooring. But when I looked into it, it's not really that sustainable if we're supporting a government that's actually doing evil things. This is not okay for me. So I had to make a very tough call to no longer buy products made in China. This was a big decision for me. I've devoted 18 years of my life to this business and I'm very passionate about all of the beautiful, I even have a patent for bamboo flooring. So for me to drop, I couldn't find beautiful flooring outside of China. So I had to basically drop the product that I even developed and invented. But I just felt as Australian businessman and a family man, I couldn't stand by and watch as people in China are being harvested for their organs. The Xinjiang Uyghur people, the Tibetans, the Falun Gong are being so heavily persecuted that for me to continue to support that country was no longer within my values. Last year in 2020 when the coronavirus hit the world and I learned that it was spread from China and I saw the devastating effect on my family, my business and many, many people around the world. I thought, Mark, this is the time you have to leave China. And that's exactly what we've done. So I've made a stand. I really hope that other Australian businesses make a stand. But I tell you what, I'm very excited about the direction of our company now. And I'm very, very proud of the hard work of my team and ethical manufacturers from around the world that have all come together to support me and to support my mission to create beautiful spaces for Australian families. You know, there's an old saying in China, which is the word crisis is actually made up of two characters, one character, which means danger, and one character, which means opportunity. And I saw that this is an opportunity to pivot and to get out of China and do what it's always meant to do. And that's help enrich Australian families lives with beautiful timber flooring. Come and join us, come and visit our beautiful showroom here in Osborne Park and experience it for yourself.