00:01It's the news Northern Tasmania had been dreading.
00:05The administrators of the Liberty Bell Bay manganese smelter announcing its closure,
00:11effective immediately.
00:13Ben Mannion is one of more than 200 employees.
00:17He's worked there since 2013.
00:19Been through so many ups and downs we weren't really expecting it to fall over at the last minute like
00:25this.
00:25The smelter was placed into administration by its previous owner, GFG Alliance, in March.
00:32A consortium negotiating to buy it withdrew its offer yesterday.
00:37The administrators said without a viable transaction and operational funding,
00:42they made the difficult decision to commence the closure of the business with immediate effect.
00:47The expectation is that the employees will have their employment terminated and the business will be closed.
00:54The Tasmanian and federal governments have spent millions of dollars keeping Liberty Bell Bay's employees paid,
01:01while administrators searched for a buyer.
01:04The Tasmanian government has contributed more than $150 million towards the smelter,
01:10including buying this ore behind me for it to process over the past decade.
01:15The closure has raised questions about Australia's manufacturing self-sufficiency.
01:20Liberty Bell Bay was Australia's only onshore processor of manganese, which is crucial for steel production.
01:28We have very clear policy ambitions to produce more metals domestically, and so it is a hit to those ambitions.
01:36The administrators plan to update workers on Monday.
01:39exterminate workers on Friday.
01:41Minutes Teri
01:42In 한번
01:42Vails
01:43By
01:43Try
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