EXXONMOBIL CLOSURE - A DEVASTATING BLOW FOR WORKERS

 
Labor demands that Scott Morrison intervene to save thousands of jobs in Victoria following the announcement of the closure of ExxonMobil oil refinery at Altona.
 
This is devastating news for hundreds of local workers and for the future of Australia’s fuel security.
 
This decision will cost hundreds of direct jobs and impact thousands of workers in downstream industry. This is further proof that the Government has no plan for workers affected by these decisions.
 
Australia’s petrochemical manufacturers all rely on by-products produced from the ExxonMobil refinery. These manufacturers will likely need assistance, given the year they’ve had through COVID, to ensure they don’t close.
 
Following just months after the closure of the refinery at Kwinana in Western Australia, the Morrison Government has overseen the closure of half of our domestic refineries in the last six months.
 
The Government announced a $211 million so-called fuel security package in September last year to keep refineries on line.
 
Six months later another refinery will close its doors.
 
Morrison and Angus Taylor said their fuel security plan would ‘create 1,000 new jobs and protect workers in the fuel sector and in fuel-dependent industries’.
 
Instead, their ‘stewardship’ has seen the loss of 600 jobs at Kwinana, and the imminent loss of 350 direct jobs at Altona, and many thousands more if they continue to sit on their hands.
 
Another hollow headline and empty promise never delivered by Scott Morrison.
 
Labor warned then that the package was inadequate and failed to address Australia’s fuel security needs. Today’s announcement clearly shows this Government has no real plan.
 
Scott Morrison’s policy vacuum has left hundreds of workers without jobs and the nation without a sovereign supply of domestic fuel.
 

WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY 2021