Workers at Tasmania’s Liberty Bell Bay manganese smelter have been given another two weeks of wage certainty, with the state and federal governments stepping in for a second time as the search for a buyer drags on.
The joint support package was announced on Friday and follows a $3 million loan in April, which covered three weeks of pay for about 200 workers at the George Town facility.
The cost of the latest package has not been disclosed, but it will again be split 50:50 between the two governments.
Liberty Bell Bay is Australia’s only manganese alloy smelter and produces a key ingredient used in steelmaking.
It has been in administration since March, with Ernst & Young handling the sale process.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff acknowledged the strain on the community.
“We recognise the uncertainty faced by workers, families, businesses and the broader George Town community,” Rockliff said.
“This decision is about backing workers and their families while administrators work through the final steps of the sales process.”
Federal Industry Minister Tim Ayres laid the blame on former owner GFG Alliance.
“We know this is a very difficult time for the facility’s workers, families and the broader Bell Bay community,” Ayres said.
He said workers had been “let down by the facility’s previous owner”.
Business, Industry and Resources Minister Felix Ellis said the offer to administrators came with “a number of conditions” and that any potential buyer would be scrutinised by the governments.
“The site needs a buyer willing and able to invest in the future of the plant and its people,” Ellis said.
Administrators are understood to be reviewing several non-binding expressions of interest from potential buyers.
