Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The priority for this government is obviously to assist those workers made redundant from BlueScope in every way we can to find alternative work. We are committed to giving them the opportunities to transition into new work. We have announced, with Senator Carr, a $40 million package of support for those workers and $8 million of that will be through my portfolio directed at supporting those redundant employees. All BlueScope employees, whether in the Illawarra or on the Mornington Peninsula, will receive the same support of intensive employment assistance and money to assist with retraining, reskill­ing and getting back into the workforce as quickly as possible. So the JSA providers will be working with those employees to provide them that support and the department's local employment coordinators are helping drive the local responses to those redundancies, working with local govern­ment, unions and employers to try and make sure those people are able to transition into other jobs as quickly as possible. (Time expired)