Interview on ABC Northern Tasmania Drive

Website search Interviewer Sunshine Wood Interview discusses Liberty Bell Bay closure. SUNSHINE WOOD, HOST: Staff at the now closed manganese smelter, Liberty Bell Bay. They've been told that they can now accept new employment from tomorrow and remain eligible for their redundancy entitlements.

The troubled smelter near George Town, it was shut down by administrators last week after attempts to find a buyer for the industrial plant failed. That decision has left more than 217 employees out of work. They're expected to be handed their official redundancy letters today.

And Tim Ayres is the Federal Minister for Industry and Innovation and joins me now. Good afternoon, Senator. SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: Oh, g'day.

It's good to be on the show, Sunshine. : Do you accept that this is the end of the line for Liberty Bell Bay and the smelter is closing? : Well, it's a bitterly disappointing announcement and, you know, I feel very disappointed and angry for that community around George Town and Bell Bay. They have worked so hard, all of them. Worked for decades, some of them, in that facility.

Turning up for work very early in the morning, working very hard. And this closure announcement will come as a bitter disappointment for them. It comes after years of uncertainty and difficulty, none of which has been their fault.

This is entirely the responsibility of the former owners of this facility, the GFG group, who just undercapitalised it, haven't managed it properly and have driven that facility into the position it is today and people have got a right to be angry about it. : Acting Premier Guy Barnett says the State Government has thrown into everything at attempting to keep Liberty Bell Bay.

Do you believe anything else could have been done? : Well, I think that it's very important that the State and Commonwealth Governments have worked together really hard and really closely on this facility. And of course, in terms of a range of Tasmanian facilities closer to your studio, to the Nyrstar facility in Hobart. A good outcome on industrial policy and industrial jobs requires close partnership and close work between the Commonwealth and the State Governments.

And we've worked hard on Liberty Bell Bay. It's essentially a commercial decision here that the administrator has had to make. Both the Commonwealth and the State have stood ready to assist and we will be focused, of course, in the coming weeks and months on being open to future viability for that site.

But today I think it's fair enough to be focused on how disappointed that group of workers and their families will feel and making sure that they get the support and assistance that they need over the coming weeks and months. : This is the nation's only manganese smelter. How significant is a loss of this smelter to Australia's sovereign capability? : Well, it's disappointing from that perspective too.

This is an Australian facility using Tasmanian electricity and a skilled Tasmanian workforce to turn Australian manganese ore into metal that's used in our steel industry and for export steel industry. It has not been functioning for quite some months now and has not been reliable for an even longer period than that. And that has meant that our steel industry in Whyalla and in Port Kembla have had to find alternative sources of manganese.

That is a real shame. This business started out as a capable, competitive, effective business with a great workforce. It has just been undercapitalised during the period that the GFG group, the Liberty Group ran it.

When I say undercapitalised, what I mean is that the maintenance program's deferred, shutdown's not done. That's no fault of the workforce. That is management decisions to withdraw capital out of that business when times are good and then leave them in the lurch when they needed support.

It is a very disappointing turn of events. We are absolutely in solidarity with the workers and the community up there. We understand how they are feeling today.

I'm grateful for the work that the trade unions, the local council, local businesses and local business community have done together to support that community. And we're just going to have to keep working away at it. : You mentioned electricity. Was access to the discounted hydropower an issue? : Well, for businesses of course every cost is a challenge.

Tasmania's hydropower, your hydroelectricity is an important asset for Tasmania. [The Tasmanian Government] have been engaged in discussions with that business and had delivered a 10 year electricity contract to the previous business. Every one of these factors has been taken into account. What has not been able to happen here is a credible buyer with a plan that satisfied the administrator that there's a viable path forward.

And you know that is completely disappointing and, and I know how much it hurts in that part of the world. : It's estimated that the clean up cost for the site, it's going to be in the region of $200 million. The owners or administrators, are they responsible for the remediation? Also if they can't fulfil this obligation, will the Federal Government assist? : Well, these really are questions for colleagues in the Tasmanian Government.

I'm just not engaged on the detail of the rehabilitation. Suffice to say, when the previous owner bought the facility they took on these rehabilitation obligations. The best rehabilitation outcome would be a continuing site with continuing viability continuing to produce manganese and employing those 200 plus workers doing their jobs every day of the week.

That would be the best rehabilitation outcome. That will be one of the issues that the State Government is working through. We have the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations on site and in that community.

The Minister was there late last week. There's Jobs Coordinators for the region. If people, workers there want more information, just use your search engine.

I shouldn't just say Google. Use your search engine ‘Liberty Bell Bay support’ and you'll find the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations site that is there to help provide information and support to workers. The Tasmanian Government is providing its own supports in the region.

We'll keep working together in the interests of this group of workers and that community. I know that there has been considerable interest from employers in the region and across Tasmania in this highly skilled group of workers who can offer so much in industrial and technological terms with their skills. And that support that we're providing is really there designed to make sure people get the support they need, make sure that they are paid properly and get their redundancies as fast as possible, but also to make sure that there's a pathway to future work and good jobs for them and for their families. : Senator, thank you so much for your time this afternoon. : Thanks, Sunshine.

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