❓ Opposition questions the Premier about government awareness, response, and assistance regarding Iluka Resources job losses and broader mining sector downturn. Premier acknowledges the losses, details communication with Iluka, and contextualizes the situation, emphasizing long-term industry factors and government engagement.
AnsweredQoN 293Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ILUKA RESOURCES LTD — JOB LOSSES
I refer to today’s announcement by mineral sands miner, Iluka Resources Ltd, that it will cut 215 Western Australian jobs as it reduces production at its Capel and Eneabba operations. (1) When was the government first advised of these job losses? (2) What was the government’s response to news of the job losses? (3) What assistance will the government provide to these workers and to the more than 10 000 workers who have lost their jobs in recent months? (4) Will the Premier now adopt a strategic and coordinated plan to assist Western Australians who have lost their jobs? Mr C.J. BARNETT
I refer to today’s announcement by mineral sands miner, Iluka Resources Ltd, that it will cut 215 Western Australian jobs as it reduces production at its Capel and Eneabba operations. (1) When was the government first advised of these job losses? (2) What was the government’s response to news of the job losses? (3) What assistance will the government provide to these workers and to the more than 10 000 workers who have lost their jobs in recent months? (4) Will the Premier now adopt a strategic and coordinated plan to assist Western Australians who have lost their jobs? Mr C.J. BARNETT
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
(1) When was the government first advised of these job losses? (2) What was the government’s response to news of the job losses? (3) What assistance will the government provide to these workers and to the more than 10 000 workers who have lost their jobs in recent months? (4) Will the Premier now adopt a strategic and coordinated plan to assist Western Australians who have lost their jobs? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
(2) What was the government’s response to news of the job losses? (3) What assistance will the government provide to these workers and to the more than 10 000 workers who have lost their jobs in recent months? (4) Will the Premier now adopt a strategic and coordinated plan to assist Western Australians who have lost their jobs? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
(3) What assistance will the government provide to these workers and to the more than 10 000 workers who have lost their jobs in recent months? (4) Will the Premier now adopt a strategic and coordinated plan to assist Western Australians who have lost their jobs? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
(4) Will the Premier now adopt a strategic and coordinated plan to assist Western Australians who have lost their jobs? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
(1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
(1) When was the government first advised of these job losses? (2) What was the government’s response to news of the job losses? (3) What assistance will the government provide to these workers and to the more than 10 000 workers who have lost their jobs in recent months? (4) Will the Premier now adopt a strategic and coordinated plan to assist Western Australians who have lost their jobs? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
(2) What was the government’s response to news of the job losses? (3) What assistance will the government provide to these workers and to the more than 10 000 workers who have lost their jobs in recent months? (4) Will the Premier now adopt a strategic and coordinated plan to assist Western Australians who have lost their jobs? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
(3) What assistance will the government provide to these workers and to the more than 10 000 workers who have lost their jobs in recent months? (4) Will the Premier now adopt a strategic and coordinated plan to assist Western Australians who have lost their jobs? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
(4) Will the Premier now adopt a strategic and coordinated plan to assist Western Australians who have lost their jobs? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
(1)-(4) Any job loss is a serious loss, particularly for the individuals concerned and their families. It is of great concern to the government that we are going through a very difficult economic period. As I have said on numerous occasions over the past 12 months, in my judgement the most difficult period will be the first half of this year. We have seen between 5 000 to 6 000 job losses in the mining industry alone. Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr E.S. Ripper : More than 10 000, I think. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I think it is different. In fact, many of those have actually been redeployed. There is no exact figure, but I would guess that about perhaps a quarter to a third of those workers have been redeployed within the industry. With regard to the job losses announced by Iluka to the Australian Stock Exchange this morning, I was aware of the details as the announcement was made. Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr A.P. O’Gorman : And you did nothing. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Iluka contacted my office yesterday to tell me that it would be making a stock exchange announcement, and obviously I was led to understand that it would relate to job losses and a production cutback. The details became known to me when the ASX announcement was made this morning. Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr E.S. Ripper : What regular meetings are you having with the mining industry on these issues? Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I meet regularly with the mining industry on all sorts of issues. The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
The extent of the job losses need to be placed in some context. It is obviously hard for the individuals concerned, particularly in the Geraldton and Capel areas. This is a production cutback of between 10 per cent and 20 per cent. Therefore, Iluka will continue to operate. Today Iluka has about 600 employees and this cutback will bring down the number of its employees in Western Australia to about 440. In the mid-west there will be 77 job losses, of which about 20 are in Geraldton, and in the south west there will be 58 job losses. These figures comprise the 135 job losses, plus the loss of 80 contractors at the Eneabba mine. The contract at the Eneabba mine was due to come to a close at the end of May. That is part of the way of life of the mining industry. It is not so much a price fall, but rather a loss of volume for Iluka. A lot of its sales go to China and it had expected volume to stay up, but it has not; it has declined, not tragically, to some extent. There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
There is another issue: although it would seem obvious to say that these job losses are due to the economic environment, there is a little bit more to it. Many of the existing mining resources in the mineral sands industry are actually largely depleted. The industry now has diminishing reserves and some reorganisation of the Iluka operations was inevitable regardless of the economic environment. Nevertheless, it is going through the process of seeking environmental approvals for the development of new reserves in the south west of this state. Its main problem has been a market problem and a lack of raw ilmenite material to go through its operations. Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Around midday today I had a lengthy discussion with Mr David Robb, the chief executive officer of Iluka. He is obviously distressed that the company has been forced to offer redundancies. Most of the people who will lose their jobs, will do so around midyear this year. I am confident from that conversation that Iluka will continue to operate successfully. This is part of a general downturn in the mining industry. I am confident also that as Iluka establishes new reserves—the constraint will be access to reserves—we will be dealing closely with it. It is providing a generous redundancy offer. Many of its workers who will lose their jobs are perhaps older workers and they might choose to leave the industry. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : We do not run around in a panic. This is the mining industry. Putting out brochures and media releases is not dealing with the reality of the mining industry. We do not do that; we are a serious government. We are not a government that continually puts out media statements. We are cooperating and working closely with Iluka. Those employees are not losing their jobs as of today; they will be gradually rolled out over the coming months. We are working with the company, as it is with other parts of the mining industry, to redeploy as many workers as possible. Some of them will be redeployed within the company’s existing operations. Hopefully, others who wish to stay in the industry will be able to be employed in other parts of the industry. It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
It is a serious issue. It is fair enough for opposition members to offer their critique, because that is what oppositions do. During the opposition’s time in government it never had to deal with a serious economic problem. Even in the 1990s the government of Richard Court had to deal with the Asian financial crisis, which had a sharp impact on Western Australia. That pales into insignificance compared with the global financial crisis that we are dealing with now. This government is getting in place the major projects that will drive this state’s economy for the next decade. The opposition had the good economic times when it was in government and it squandered them. It failed to take advantage of the good economic times. My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
My concern is not so much looking to 2010 and beyond. I am confident that we will see major projects proceed in this state, many of which have currently stalled, and there will be literally thousands of jobs. My concern is with this calendar year. This is the difficult time. The bad news, and there was more of it today and there will be probably further bad news, will continue over the next six months. I am confident that we are very close to the bottom of the cycle in commodity prices. Evidence shows that that has happened. I look forward to the economy stabilising and then returning to strength. Thank goodness this state has a Liberal-National government to deal with this crisis.
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