Once they're gone, it's never coming back
On the edge of Tasmania's industrial north, nearly 200 workers at Australia's only manganese smelter find themselves caught between a failed parent company and the slow machinery of government response. The Liberty Bell Bay facility entered administration in March, and with payroll funds exhausted after April 24, workers face an abrupt choice between unpaid leave and redundancy — not through any fault of their own, but through the collapse of structures far above them. What is being asked of government is modest in dollar terms but immense in what it represents: whether the state will honour its implicit compact with working people when the market fails them, as it has done before for larger and more politically visible operations elsewhere on the mainland.
- A payroll deadline of April 24 is bearing down on 200 workers with the indifference of a calendar — no buyer has been secured, no government funds have arrived, and the clock does not negotiate.
- A fourth-year apprentice boilermaker describes 'massive anxiety and stress' at the prospect of abandoning a nearly-complete trade qualification, while a 40-year veteran says the government's silence is the most disheartening part of the crisis.
- Unions point to a glaring inconsistency: the federal government has committed $2 billion to a Rio Tinto aluminium smelter and $135 million to Nyrstar, yet $1.6 million per fortnight to keep this workforce alive during a sale process remains unconfirmed.
- Both the Tasmanian state government and federal Industry Minister's office have signalled willingness to act, but each is waiting on the other — a coordination gap that workers cannot afford to fund with their own livelihoods.
- Senators and union officials are framing the smelter's unique manganese processing capability as a sovereign manufacturing and AUKUS defence asset, arguing that once this workforce disperses, the capability — and the facility's sale value — may be irretrievably lost.
Mikayla Binns is a fourth-year apprentice boilermaker at the Liberty Bell Bay smelter in Tasmania's north, weeks away from completing her qualification. In a fortnight, her pay will stop. So will that of nearly 200 colleagues.
Australia's only manganese alloy processing facility entered voluntary administration in March after its parent company failed to file financial statements for five years. Administrators Ernst and Young are searching for a buyer, but the money to sustain the workforce has run out. After the pay cycle ending April 24, workers were told they face a choice between unpaid leave and redundancy. For Binns, the prospect of starting over with incomplete credentials is a source of deep anxiety. For John Dusautoy, who has worked at the George Town smelter for nearly four decades, the hardest part is not the crisis itself but the quiet from Canberra and Hobart.
What workers are asking for is $1.6 million per fortnight — enough to keep the payroll running for a couple of months while a sale is negotiated. The request sits in uncomfortable contrast to recent federal interventions: $2 billion for Rio Tinto's Boyne aluminium smelter, $135 million for Nyrstar in Port Pirie, and ongoing support for the Tomago smelter in the Hunter Valley. Union representative Chris Clark noted the disparity plainly — what is being asked here is small by any comparable measure.
Tasmania's Energy Minister Nick Duigan has said a state support package is being developed, but insists the Commonwealth must be part of it. A spokesperson for federal Industry Minister Tim Ayres indicated the government would work with the state to support workers and local suppliers. Both governments appear to understand that a dispersed workforce makes the smelter far harder to sell — workers, as one spokesperson put it, are "a core part of the value of that sale."
Liberal senator Jonno Duniam has gone further, casting the smelter's fate in terms of national sovereignty and AUKUS defence commitments. The facility's manganese processing capability, he argued, is not replaceable — if it closes, it closes permanently. The question now is whether that argument, and the human cost behind it, will produce action before April 24 arrives.
Mikayla Binns stands outside the Liberty Bell Bay smelter in Tasmania's north, trying not to think about what comes next. She is a fourth-year apprentice boilermaker, nearly qualified, with a job she understands and colleagues she knows. In two weeks, that job will stop paying her. So will nearly 200 others.
The smelter, Australia's only facility capable of processing manganese alloy for steelmaking, entered voluntary administration in March after its parent company failed to file financial statements for five years. Ernst and Young, the external administrators, have been racing to find a buyer. But the money to keep workers on the payroll has run out. After the pay cycle ending April 24, there will be nothing left. Workers were told yesterday they could either take unpaid leave or accept redundancy. For Binns, the prospect of starting over elsewhere, with limited experience, creates what she calls "massive anxiety and stress."
John Dusautoy has worked at the George Town smelter for nearly four decades. When he heard the news, it "really hit home." He believes the administrators and management have done what they can. What troubles him is the silence from government. "The disheartening part is I think the governments need to step up and help," he said.
The workers are asking for exactly that: a fortnightly injection of $1.6 million to cover payroll for the next couple of months, long enough for a buyer to be found. The request is not unreasonable by recent precedent. The federal government has poured $2 billion into Rio Tinto's Boyne aluminium smelter, $135 million into the Nyrstar operation in Port Pirie, and negotiated deals to keep the Tomago smelter in the Hunter Valley running. Chris Clark from the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union noted the disparity. "What's being asked for is small when you compare it to what other support has been offered around the nation for enterprises of a similar nature," he said.
Tasmania's Minister for Energy and Renewables, Nick Duigan, said the state government is working on a support package but made clear it cannot act alone. The Commonwealth must be involved. A spokesperson for federal Industry Minister Tim Ayres said the government would work with the state to ensure workers and local suppliers are supported. Both governments seem to understand what is at stake. Duigan noted that keeping the workforce intact is "really critical" to finding a buyer willing to take on a functioning operation. The federal government's spokesperson went further, calling workers "a core part of the value of that sale" who must be "recognised and treated as such."
Liberal senator for Tasmania Jonno Duniam framed the issue in national security terms. The smelter's unique capability—processing manganese alloy for steelmaking—matters for advanced manufacturing, for AUKUS commitments, for sovereign capability. "Once they're gone and once this smelter shuts down, if that happens, then it's never coming back, and we as a country are lost as a result of it," he said. The question now is whether that argument will move money from Canberra before April 24 arrives and the paychecks stop.
Citas Notables
The disheartening part is I think the governments need to step up and help.— John Dusautoy, 40-year smelter worker
Once they're gone and once this smelter shuts down, if that happens, then it's never coming back, and we as a country are lost as a result of it.— Liberal senator Jonno Duniam
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does a manganese smelter in Tasmania matter enough to warrant a government bailout?
Because it's the only one in the country. Once it's gone, Australia loses the ability to make a critical material for steelmaking. You can't just rebuild that overnight—or ever, really.
But the workers are the immediate concern, aren't they? Not the strategic capability?
Both are true at once. The workers need to eat next month. But the government is also thinking about what happens if the smelter closes permanently. That's why they keep mentioning the sale—if the workforce disappears, no buyer will touch it.
So the bailout is really about keeping the smelter alive, not the workers?
It's both. You can't keep the smelter alive without the workers. They're not separate problems. But yes, the government's framing is about the asset, not the people.
What happens if the governments say no?
The workers take unpaid leave or lose their jobs. The smelter probably closes. The capability leaves the country. And Mikayla Binns, who was almost done with her apprenticeship, starts over somewhere else with no experience.
Has the federal government indicated whether it will actually do this?
Not yet. They've said the right things—that workers matter, that they'll work with the state. But they haven't committed money. The clock is ticking to April 24.