Abbott's promises too late for Adelaide shipbuilding jobs - AMWU

The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has put paid to any notion that the Abbott announcement of $89billion on ship building in Australia is going to be some kind of magic saviour for the industry in Adelaide.

Forget the spin. The $89billion includes the submarine build which hasn't been secured for Australia at all, with the Abbott gov continuing to make noises about getting them built in Japan. The real figure is $39billion, and that's pretty much just a guess as most of the projects haven't even reached the tender stage and no time frame given as to when they'll start. Apparently ship builders are just supposed to believe Abbott at his word? 

All smoke and mirrors folks. Bye bye Precious Pyne..... Adelaide and South Australia are shaping up as a Lieberal bloodbath come the revolution election.

The Prime Minister’s $39 billion promise for future shipbuilding in Adelaide has not prevented a fresh wave of job losses as his Government has acted too late to stop the present plunge into the valley of death.

Another 100 jobs will go by next month at BAE in Williamstown and 26 sub-contractor workers at ASC in Adelaide were dismissed this week, mostly via phone calls.

They join hundreds of shipbuilders now without work as shipyards in eastern Australia start to run down due to a lack of new government orders.

“So far there’s been no solid timeframe for the new frigates and patrol boats – is this just another promise Tony Abbott will break?” SA Assistant Secretary Colin Fenney said.

This week an AMWU delegation met MPs in Canberra to demand proper detail on Mr Abbott’s embrace of a rolling build and to press for jobs to be saved now as an emergency priority by bringing forward the offshore Pacific patrol boat program earlier than 2018.

Three teams of AMWU members and officials quizzed over 30 Coalition and crossbench MPs on whether the PM’s announcement of a rolling build of surface warships from 2018 would save any shipyards jobs beyond Adelaide – in the NSW Hunter, Victoria and Perth. 

The responses from Liberal Cabinet Ministers and MPs ranged from the defiant (“you should be thanking us”) to conciliatory, as shipbuilding looms as a massive Coalition vote-loser. 

National Secretary Paul Bastian headed the AMWU group, which split into teams of four or five also under National President Andrew Dettmer and Assistant National Secretary Glenn Thompson.

They also urged MPs to send the Abbott Government back to the drawing board on overseas builds for two navy supply ships and the Australian Antarctic Division’s next icebreaker.

BAE Systems delegate Leon White said: “ASC Adelaide can’t build and maintain frigates and patrol boats alone, they will need other yards but unless this Government urgently brings extra work forward the jobs and skills at BAE Williamstown and Forgacs in NSW will be long gone.”

Glenn Thompson said it was disturbing that some Abbott Government ministers were still trying to back peddle on the solemn promise of former defence spokesman Senator David Johnston in the 2013 election campaign that 12 new submarines would be built in Adelaide. more