AUSTRALIA COMPUTER HARD DRIVES STOLEN http://www.youngwitness.com.au/news/local/news/general/state-interest/1743404.aspx?storypage=0
State interest
Mr Macdonald arrived late and walked into the meeting through a crowd of freshly sacked workers who have yet to be paid for their last week of work, and who were there to hand in their General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS) application forms.
Under GEERS workers may be eligible for up to three months unpaid wages for the period prior to the appointment of the receiver, unpaid annual leave and long service leave, up to a maximum of five weeks unpaid payment in lieu of notice and up to 16 weeks unpaid redundancy entitlement.
Mr Macdonald has said the meetings with the general manager, receiver and afterwards the Mayor, were short but generally very effective. And that the situation had come as a great shock to the government.
“This is a fantastic plant and is not only a great asset to the region but also to the state,” said Mr Macdonald.
“Our absolute position is to work as hard as possible to get this plant re-opened.
“We will be working with the receivers to work up a package of assistance that can be bolted together with any offer of sale of this property, which I understand is imminent, that will provide an incentive to any prospective buyer in terms of this site.
“Our heart goes out to the workforce, it is a very difficult period for them and we’ve mobilised the State’s response activity task force will be put in place to deal with the personal problems that arise out of this issue for this crucial workforce.
“Their entitlements, as I understand it, will be satisfied through the GEERS process and tie them over for the time being.
“We’re also very mindful of the fact that a lot of people will be very upset by this situation and we stand ready to assist them right through this period,” said Mr Macdonald
Mr Macdonald said the state is committed to getting the plant up and running again.
When asked about the possibility of a government grant to pull the meatworks out of trouble, Mr Macdonald said there is no chequebook in relation to how you respond to the exact situation.
“Other than to make sure the workforce is looked after through this very difficult period for them, and then to prepare the appropriate packages that can assist the sale process to ensure that the plant re-opens,” Mr Macdonald said.
Reopening the plant, preferably as a sale to another company is also high on the mind of Burrangong’s appointed receiver, Alan Hayes, a partner in PPB, who specialise in recovery, forensics and advisory matters.
Mr Hayes said that although it is very early in the process yet his principle focus at the moment is the employees and their entitlements.
“We are happy to say that we now have received the backup data from those stolen computers, fortunately it was kept off-site but I would like to say that it would be good to get back the hard drives that were stolen from here last week.
“Their disappearance may slow down benefits being paid, there must be someone who knows who stole them and can help.
Mr Hayes said at this stage he would rather see the plant sold as a going concern.
“It has been profitable in the past,” said Mr Hayes.
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