Work officially start on Albemarle lithium processing plant at Kemerton

Today’s sod turning to officially start construction of Albemarle’s lithium processing plant at Kemerton is welcome news.

It is also welcome news to hear that the Australian Manufacturing and Workers Union has backed away from potential plans to disrupt the event.

It is a $1 billion investment that everyone in the region should want to run as smoothly as possible so the benefits can start to be felt as quickly as possible.

The lithium plant will create 500 jobs during the construction phase and could create up to 500 permanent jobs once it is up and running.

Put simply, this is the type of project this region has been crying out for.

Those jobs will be there and money will flow through into South West economies via wages for a long time into the future.

What the AMWU wants is assurance that workers already living in the region will be given a good chance to secure those jobs.

A positive first meeting between the union and company representatives this week has initiated preliminary talks in good faith.

The South West community needs both parties to maintain that dialogue in order to secure the best possible outcome.

Creating jobs and potential opportunities for other industries to spring forth in the region is a positive, but ensuring those jobs are filled by people living in the region is important.