Western Australia Jobs
An energy shortage in Western Australia is now causing many to lose their jobs.
A recent explosion at the state’s main gas supply plant has caused the economy to suffer. As a result companies are struggling to pay their workers.
With profits down, employers are having to consider doing away with many jobs in Western Australia. According to UnionsWA Secretary Dave Robinson, many businesses are now telling significant portions of their staffs to go ahead and take annual leave due to the fact that they can not afford to compensate them for their work.
The explosion, which cut the state’s gas supply by 30 percent, has now begun to effect other industries. A recent news article in the Perth-based Sunday Times stated that the meat industry, saw mills and wood-working companies have already started to thin out their staff.
According to the article, it is expected that the end result could be the loss of as many as several thousand WA jobs due either directly or indirectly to the gas shortage. The portion of the workforce that is most likely to receive the ax is responsible for more than a third of the country’s exports.
The explosion, which occurred on June 3rd, happened at Varanus Island in the northwest. On June 6th a representative of Houston-based Apache Corporation, the plant’s owner, stated that it maybe as long as two months from now before the pipeline damaged will be up to delivering even a part of the gas it did previously. UBS AG has said that problems with the Western Australia gas supply may continue into October.
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority is currently looking into the cause of the explosion to determine whether or not there was a violation of regulations and required safety standards at the plant by Apache or any of the other parties involved.