Up to 1100 jobs at Williamstown’s shipyard could be shed from next month as the state and federal governments fail to bring forward contracts for BAE Systems, Hobsons Bay’s second-biggest employer.
The job threats accompany a damning report from the Australian National Audit Office criticising the $8 billion air warfare destroyer project to build three warships.
Head of Williamstown Maritime Research Geoff Dougall said there was obvious concern in Williamstown that “in recent times contracts seemed to be delivered to states where the best outcome politically can be achieved”.
“There is little political loss if Williamstown is left out of some of these contracts despite the obvious logistics and skilled workforce built up over 160 years of continuous shipbuilding and maintenance being carried out at Williamstown,” he said.
State Williamstown MP Wade Noonan said locals would not forgive the state government if BAE went under because of a gap in defence contracts. “I’m told the South Australian government has virtually set up an office in Canberra to help secure defence jobs for their state.”
He said the consequences would be devastating for Hobsons Bay, particularly coming on the back of claims that 200,000 jobs would be directly and indirectly affected when Toyota’s Altona plant stopped making cars in Australia in 2017.
Western Metropolitan Liberal MP Andrew Elsbury last week said: “The state government’s always working to try and encourage further investment in Victoria, and certainly we have an advantage with the shipyards down at Williamstown. We’ve got to try to be competitive with other states to attract investment for other warships.”
Defence Minister Senator David Johnston told the Weekly the government was committed to supporting the local defence industry, while BAE spokesman Simon Latimer said discussions with the federal government were continuing.
