NO.067

PORT KEMBLA FEDERAL ASSISTANCE PACKAGE

BlueScope Steel announced this morning that it will be closing its Port Kembla tin mill and that it will be ceasing production of tin-plate in Australia as a result of increasingly low margins, higher costs, deteriorating market opportunities and changing consumer preferences towards more fresh foods at the expense of canned foods.

The company announced its intention to do this in November 2004.

While BlueScope Steel will continue to be a major employer and investor in Port Kembla and the greater Illawarra region employing in excess of 5000 workers, regrettably this decision will involve the loss of around 250 workers at BlueScope Steel’s Port Kembla operations.

I have great sympathy for those workers and their families who will be adversely affected by BlueScope’s announcement.

The Australian Government is determined to ensure that the affected workers, their families and the broader Port Kembla community have every opportunity to quickly recover from this setback.

I am pleased to announce that the Australian Government will be putting in place a balanced package of measures in response to the announcement by BlueScope Steel.

The Australian Government package will involve a combination of labour market programme assistance that will be tailored to meet the specific needs of displaced workers as well as a range of industry facilitation measures that will seek to attract new investment and create job opportunities in Port Kembla.

Specifically, the Australian Government package will involve:

1. Immediate access for eligible workers to a range of Labour Market assistance measures involving:

• Intensive customised support with the provision of one-on-one assistance tailored to the needs of each displaced worker. Each worker will have access to an individual consultant who will provide a range of specialised advice and support to help secure alternative employment. This would include job search training and advice, counselling; access to job vacancies and access to the Job Seeker Account (JSA) with an additional $450 to the $900 normally allocated to the JSA.
• Help to establish new business opportunities through access to the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS);
• Relocation assistance; and
• Wage subsidies of $1,960 to be included in the Job Seeker Account.

The Port Kembla site workers will become eligible for assistance immediately upon receipt of their redundancy notice.

The Australian Government will be seeking to establish an Australian Job Search kiosk at the Port Kembla site to provide immediate assistance to displaced workers.

2. The establishment of a $5 million Port Kembla Industry Facilitation Fund that will support various measures designed to create sustainable private sector employment opportunities in Port Kembla.

The Fund will be modelled on the Structural Adjustment Fund for South Australia (SAFSA) that was established in May 2004 following the announcement by Mitsubishi Australia of the downsizing of its Adelaide operations.

The co-operation and involvement of the New South Wales Government is important, and I therefore invite the Premier of New South Wales, Mr Iemma, to contribute to the Port Kembla Industry Facilitation Fund, noting that the Premier of South Australia made a financial contribution in response to the Mitsibishi rationalisation of 2004.

I will be establishing a Task Force of relevant Australian Government officials to be led by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources and involving representatives from the Departments of Prime Minister & Cabinet; Employment and Workplace Relations; Transport and Regional Services and Education, Science and Training to co-ordinate the implementation of these measures.

The Australian Government expects that BlueScope Steel will fully honour its employee entitlement obligations and strongly encourages the company to do all it can to assist its workers.

I am confident that with the Australian Government’s extensive assistance measures as well as the support of BlueScope Steel and the New South Wales Government, the displaced workers, their families and the Port Kembla community will very quickly recover from this setback.

MELBOURNE

Thursday, 29 June 2006

Contact: Renae Stoikos

03 9650 0244