Australia: More lay-offs as energy crisis spreads

WESTERN Australia’s gas crisis will hit hard this week as more businesses face the decision to shut down and lay off workers because of escalating energy costs, the state government says

The WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) has estimated 14 per cent of 83 companies it surveyed recently may halt operations because of the energy squeeze.


Apache Energy says it will be two months before gas supplies are partly resumed at its Varanus Island gas plant, where a June 3 explosion cut off one-third of the state’s domestic gas supply.

WA Premier Alan Carpenter said today businesses would have to take account of the fact that a switch from gas- to diesel-fired electricity would bring far higher costs.

“Diesel-fired electricity is far more expensive than gas-fired electricity, so businesses will be making the decision as to whether the increased cost they are going to have to pay for energy warrants them shutting down for a while, or scaling down their production for a while, or standing down their staff for a while,” he told reporters.

Herald Sun