Spectre of Newcastle, Latrobe haunts Geelong
By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
THE closure of Alcoa has dumped Geelong into the same economic basket as Newcastle when BHP pulled its steel pin and the Latrobe Valley following electricity privatisation, according to union and Labor figures.
Australian Workers Union Victorian branch secretary Ben Davis and federal MP for Corio Richard Marles said the Alcoa announcement exacerbated job losses at Ford, Qantas at Avalon, Boral and Target and uncertainty over Shell.
“The cumulative effect of this series of hammer blows is much the same as the effect of BHP leaving Newcastle and the privatisation of the SEC in the Latrobe Valley,” Mr Davis said.
Alcoa announced its Pt Henry smelter would close in August and the adjacent rolling mill by the end of the year, costing 800 jobs.
Mayor Darryn Lyons believed the flow-on effect will cost 2000 to 3000 jobs across the region.
Cr Lyons forecast an economic impact on the region of around $600 million annually.
Alcoa said the closures would cost up to $270 million, including a $160 million bill this year.
The privatisation of the state’s electricity system in the 1990s
delivered a bombshell to the Latrobe Valley, leading to mass layoffs.
Power industry jobs fell from 11,000 in 1989 to 2500 and the municipality’s population dropped from 75,000 to 70,000 by 2005.
Newcastle’s BHP steelworks closed in 1999, affecting a local industry that once employed 13,000.
But Prime Minister Tony Abbott said after a meeting with Victorian Premier Denis Napthine on Wednesday that “some quite exciting developments” were in store for Geelong.
“Early in March we’ll have some announcements to make and then in the build-up to the budget there’ll be further announcements to make.
“There are some quite exciting developments that people are thinking about in Geelong which we can include as part of our announcements in coming weeks.”
Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson called on Federal Government to extend its $100 million regional growth fund and to create a specific package for Geelong.
Deakin University vice-chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander said Geelong had an opportunity to “reinvent” itself for “the jobs of the future.”
“Deakin University is already playing a part in helping the region adjust to the economic changes ahead and we stand ready to do more.” she said.
Prof den Hollander said universities had played a critical role in helping local economies restructure in both Wollongong and Newcastle.
“Today, one of the great new opportunities for Geelong manufacturing is in carbon fibre, the aluminium of the 21st century.”
Prof den Hollander said investments of $157 million in a carbon fibre research facility and engineering training centre at Deakin’s Waurn Ponds campus would leverage research and development capability to directly benefit local businesses and the Geelong economy.
