WILLIAMSTOWN’S shipyard says the jobs of up to 1100 workers are under threat unless it wins more warship contracts in the next two years.
BAE Systems this month won a short-term reprieve when Federal Defence Minister Stephen Smith announced four destroyer hull blocks would be completed at Williamstown.
The news allayed fears of heavy job losses in July, when work on a previous contract for three hulls will be finished.
But BAE maritime director Bill Saltzer said the allocation of four Air Warfare Destroyer (AWD) blocks provided only a short-term benefit.
‘‘This decision does not address the absence of naval shipbuilding work from 2015 after work is completed on the AWD blocks until at least 2020, when the SEA 5000 Future Frigate project is due to begin production.
‘‘The Williamstown shipyard is facing the very real prospect of a five-year ‘valley of death’ that must be addressed as soon as possible.
‘‘We have been discussing this issue with the federal government for the past two years to ensure it has been fully informed about the importance of ending the boom bust cycle that has characterised naval shipbuilding in Australia in the past.’’
BAE will this month start planning job reductions from 2015.
As reported by the Weekly in December, Mr Saltzer said there would be no work from 2015 when the Landing Helicopter Dock program finished unless a new contract was secured.
‘‘This valley of death has already been acknowledged in statements made by several members of the federal government,’’ he said.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Paul Bastion said he was deeply concerned about looming job losses.
‘‘We are very concerned and it is not restricted to Williamstown,’’ he said.
Mr Bastion said contracts earmarked in the Gillard government’s defence white paper needed to be brought forward to preserve jobs and skills in the industry.
But Defence Materiel Minister Mike Kelly said the government had to go through proper tendering processes and could not simply hand out projects to companies.
Mr Kelly said the federal government wanted to ensure a smoother flow of work for naval and maritime projects.
He said the government already had around 35 projects with BAE, worth about $6.2 billion, and had recently returned four blocks to the Williamstown shipyard
‘‘The taxpayer rightly expects that we will go through proper processes in terms of tendering and there are other companies out there who would scream if we just picked winners.’’
The white paper includes a commitment to build 12 new submarines worth at least $36 billion.
– with The Age
