Henderson precinct to bear brunt of BAE’s Australian jobs cull despite site’s slated role in national defence

BAE Systems will shed 150 roles by November in a move that will largely impact its specialised trades workforce in Henderson as work on the Royal Australian Navy’s Anzac class frigates dries out. A spokesman for the British defence multinational’s Australian division confirmed about 121 trades and 32 white collar roles would be removed across its shipyard in Henderson, and its digital intelligence offices in Melbourne. It comes as BAE’s work servicing the Anzac class program draws to a close following a decision not to continue upgrading the fleet by the Federal Government in February last year. The move leaves specialised tradespeople in limbo despite billions of dollars being ploughed into a defence precinct tipped to employ thousands of workers and be the biggest naval maintenance hub in the southern hemisphere. Henderson has been selected by the Federal Government to become a fully-fledged consolidated defence precinct, housing builds of Army landing craft and general purpose frigates, as well as being set up to maintain nuclear-powered submarines set to be delivered as part of the AUKUS defence pact. BAE said it had been “working hard to secure ongoing work for the Henderson shipyard to continue our operations and minimise impact of the cancelled program on our people.” The company said that included further production work on the Hunter Class Frigate Program, which is set to start in August and will involve manufacturing hull units and support structures. Despite securing the additional manufacturing work, the job cuts are still set to take place between now and November. “As a Capability Hub, people at our Henderson office will continue to be able to find roles across Australia to work on other programs,” a BAE spokesman said. “We continue to work with our impacted people to ensure transparency and continue to pursue opportunities to retain a highly skilled workforce within BAE Systems Australia.” Australian Manufacturing Workers Union State Secretary Steve McCartney said the layoffs did not “look or smell like the thousands and thousands of AUKUS jobs that the Federal Government likes to brag about creating”. He said the skills being ousted from BAE were not easy to replace, and that there needed to be agreements in place for workers at the site to protect them in the event an employer lost a contract. “We’re calling on the Federal Government to ensure that these workers stay in the industry and are redeployed,” he told The West Australian. Welders, boilermakers, electricians, painters as well as crane and rigging crew are among the trades employed at the precinct. As well as BAE, Austal, Civmec and Babcock Australasia also operate out of Henderson.