SEVERAL dozen jobs have been saved at Barnawartha’s biofuel plant.
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That follows the amendment of federal legislation last week to change the excise rules for biodiesel.
ARfuels managing director Andrew White said 12 months of lobbying went into the result, which now “gives us no excuses not to grow the business”.
“It means the 30-odd jobs out at Barnawartha are secure,” he said.
“I’m quite positive about it. We’ve got a very committed workforce out there, some fabulous people.”
Federal legislation introduced in June 2011 to keep biodiesel free of excise until 2021 led to a $45 million expansion of the Barnawartha plant.
But that was upended in the 2014 budget when Treasurer Joe Hockey declared that excise had to be paid from 2016, phased in over five years.
“Our share price on budget night 2014 went from 65 cents to 10 cents because effectively that five-year phasing period was more than the company could bear.”
Mr White said this threw the company’s whole business plan out the window.
“It was devastating for the business and the industry,” he said.
“The change we got through last week was that instead of the phasing it in over five years it’s going to be done over 16 years.
“That’s a vastly different position for us because by the time 16 years comes around, instead of the one plant we’ve got up and running we’ll have three.”
Mr White said direct approaches were made to Mr Hockey and Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane, as well as Labor, to support their position.
“And Cathy McGowan did a lot of running around Parliament House for me as well”.
In an address to Parliament, Ms McGowan said it was to the government and opposition’s credit that an agreement was reached on legislation “that will benefit the whole industry”.
“This type of co-operation brings confidence to the sector and has secured the future of a regional manufacturer and continues the momentum in the growth of biofuels,” she said.
Mr White said the Biofuels Association of Australia also employed its own lobbyists.
Also helpful was the recent manufacturing day at Wodonga TAFE attended by Victorian Greens Senator Janet Rice, Ms McGowan, Senator John Madigan and member for Kennedy Bob Katter.
“That gave me a very good opportunity to talk to them directly about the issue and then they went back to Canberra with that issue,” he said.
Mr White said there was a bit of an awakening in the government about the ramifications of the original plan.
“I started the Barnawartha plant back in 2005 and there’s been a lot of money, a lot of investors and lot of people committed,” he said.
“Hopefully we can now start to repay that faith and that commitment by really making the business successful.”