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Philip Smart | Adelaide

BAE Systems will cut 80 jobs from its Williamstown, Victoria shipyard as existing work on the Navy’s Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) vessels and Air Warfare Destroyer winds down with no new contracts in sight.

The first LHD, HMAS Canberra (largest warship ever in the Royal Australian Navy fleet), was delivered in October 2014 and the second, NUSHIP Adelaide, will be delivered later this year.

BAE Systems has already delivered all Air Warfare Destroyer blocks contracted for ships one and two to Adelaide for assembly. Two blocks for ship three have been accepted and the remaining eight blocks under contract will be completed by early 2016. Without new orders, all shipbuilding activity in Victoria will be completed at that point.

From a peak of around 1300 working on the LHD and AWD, Williamstown’s workforce has dropped to about 800. The company also spends more than $270 million each year with more than 800 suppliers.

Director of Maritime, BAE Systems Australia, Bill Saltzer said: “We are a project-based business and our employee numbers must match the needs and status of our ongoing and upcoming projects at any given time.

“Whilst there has not been any new naval vessel contracts awarded since 2008, we are pleased to hear the recent statements from the Prime Minister and Minister for Defence acknowledging the strategic importance of the Australian naval shipbuilding industry and the need for a continuous production plan that will allow the companies in the industry to build ships with world class quality and productivity. We have been advocating this position for several years in an attempt to avoid the reductions that are now becoming necessary.

 “We have invested in our people, in our facilities, and in our technologies in our shipyards in Victoria and Western Australia in order to ensure that our shipbuilding capability is able to efficiently deliver highly complex and technically advanced warships to the Royal Australian Navy. We are ready to commit to even higher levels of efficiency if the Government implements a naval ship procurement plan that supports continuous levels of production.”

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