Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I fully appreciate the member for Calare’s concern in this regard. As I said, we will await the advice of the administrator. I understand that the administrator is trying to sell this business as a going concern. If that business can be sold as a going concern—which might involve some restructure because of the financial difficulty that the business is facing—it will be the best outcome for the workers, their families and the people of Cowra more broadly because it will preserve jobs in Cowra. We will continue to monitor the situation and, if there is any further information I can provide to the honourable member, I will do so.

Can I make this final point: we were mocked in this place because we said, when this was raised by the Labor Party and the ACTU, that in some circumstances businesses will have to restructure to remain viable. The Office of Workplace Services found that this business had been facing financial difficulty over a long period of time. Regrettably that has proven to be the case, and I think some of the people on the other side should think again about what they said earlier on.

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