KWINANA OIL REFINERY —
CLOSURE
851. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I refer to the announcement that the
BP oil refinery will shut down operations, with the potential loss of 600 local
jobs. Can the Premier advise whether he has made any personal representations
to the Prime Minister to secure the ongoing operations of this critically
important strategic energy asset; and, if not, why not?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
I have not spoken to the Prime
Minister about this matter, but I am very concerned about it. It is obviously a
matter on which the commonwealth should attempt to assist us. When we were
advised of the closure, we looked at what we could do within the law in Western
Australia. We took the advice of the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation about what could be done within the
state agreement act. The best advice that we have at this point is to secure
the supply of oil and fuel into Western Australia, which is an important
initiative. The commonwealth has various approaches to dealing with matters of
strategic energy supply. I am advised that Angus Taylor was made aware of these
matters but BP did not take up any of the suggestions that the commonwealth may
have put to it.