About 175 workers at Australia’s only manganese smelter, Liberty Bell Bay, have been told they will be laid off at the end of next week unless they take leave without pay.<\/p>\n
It’s three more weeks than what the nearly 200 staff at the northern Tasmanian smelter had been able to count on a week ago, when they were given an ultimatum by administrators \u2014 either take unpaid leave indefinitely, or give up their jobs<\/a> at the smelter.<\/p>\n They were given until Tuesday \u2026 with that deadline then extended by two days as a deal for a government support package neared closure.<\/p>\n It was another setback for workers at the smelter, which was put into administration last month after being mothballed by owner GFG Alliance for nearly a year.<\/p>\n Mr Manion said he understood why only three weeks of wages had been offered up for now<\/a>.<\/p>\n The pressure is on administrators at Ernst and Young to lock in a buyer \u2014 the sooner one can be found, the better for the public purse and the business.<\/p>\n It’s just that it doesn’t ease the long-term concerns for workers.<\/p>\n Liberty Bell Bay worker Ben Manion has worked at the smelter full time for four and a half years. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n Mr Manion has two kids and a mortgage \u2014 he’s looking for other work.<\/p>\n “It’d be silly not to,” he admits.<\/p>\n Liberty Bell Bay is Australia’s last ferromanganese smelter, located at Bell Bay in Northern Tasmania. (ABC News: Mitchell Woolnough)<\/p>\n Despite initial optimism that a new buyer could be found in two to six weeks, the ABC understands the timeframe could be closer to two to six months.<\/p>\n So what happens when this money runs out? Will we be in the same situation in three weeks’ time?<\/p>\n Do workers have to do this all again?<\/p>\n Support package comes after nervous wait<\/p>\n The most urgent question at Wednesday’s press conference was, “has this support come quickly enough?”<\/p>\n It has, in that workers haven’t had to give up their jobs.<\/p>\n Liberty Bell Bay’s demise has been a slow-moving car crash.<\/p>\n For months, if not years, keen watchers have feared a moment like this, with the business being placed into administration<\/a>, and workers being left in the lurch.<\/p>\n Liberty Bell Bay enters voluntary administration<\/a><\/p>\n The owner of Australia’s only manganese alloy smelter has entered voluntary administration. It means further uncertainty for the Tasmanian smelter’s workforce.<\/p>\n It’s fair to ask whether contingency planning started as cracks formed in Sanjeev Gupta’s business empire overseas and then in Australia.<\/p>\n If it did, why did the state government appear so unwilling to jump in when news broke of workers needing a lifeline?<\/p>\n Asked in state parliament last week if he was considering a support package, Business, Industry and Resources Minister Felix Ellis said that the government “doesn’t have the capacity”.<\/p>\n “It doesn’t have the balance sheet to be paying wages for every person involved in an administration”.<\/p>\n Perhaps. But by Friday, the government had clearly realised it might need to find that capacity, announcing it was working with the federal government.<\/p>\n Given that keeping the workforce locked in at the site has been sold as key to finding a new buyer, why was the need for a package ever in doubt?<\/p>\n Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff and Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayers.\u00a0 (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n Bailouts cause expectation<\/p>\n Workers at Liberty Bell Bay are keeping a close eye on how the federal government supports them now.<\/p>\n ASIC investigating Gupta’s empire <\/a><\/p>\n After years of financial red flags, corporate watchdog ASIC confirms it has multiple investigations underway into Sanjeev Gupta’s troubled empire, following multiple collapses that have left hundreds of workers facing an uncertain future.<\/p>\n They’re well aware of a $2.4 billion bailout for Gupta’s Whyalla Steelworks<\/a>, and the $2 billion bailout for Rio Tinto’s Boyne aluminium smelter<\/a><\/p>\n But just as the federal government has opened a can of worms, the state needs to be mindful of doing so, too.<\/p>\n All four of Tasmania’s major industrials are facing difficulties, though for different reasons.<\/p>\n Bail out one, and the other three may come asking at a time when Tasmania is already in heavy debt<\/a>.<\/p>\n Workers rallying outside Liberty Bell Bay.\u00a0 (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n As for debt, questions can also be asked about the $20 million loaned to the company for it to purchase manganese ore.<\/p>\n While it can be seen as a good-faith attempt to keep the smelter operating, there was a clear risk that the money wouldn’t be paid back.<\/p>\n Assistant National Secretary for the Australian Workers’ Union, Chris Donovan said the fortnightly wage bill for the site was about $1.6 million. (ABC News: Kelsey Reid)<\/p>\n The state government was aware that GFG had ripped $200 million out of the business already. ASIC was circling, with the company failing to lodge financial reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n It takes a lot of good faith to throw another $20 million into that black hole.<\/p>\n The state now needs to recoup what it can from a future owner.<\/p>\n Liberty owners ‘let us down big time’<\/p>\n Premier Jeremy Rockliff’s anger at former owner Sanjeev Gupta yesterday was palpable.<\/p>\n “The owners have let us down big time \u2014 and that’s an absolute understatement. They’ve deserted this community, they deserted the workforce and showed absolute disrespect for Tasmania,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/35c63860c77d3b6893457b9c25b2a8fc.jpeg\")
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