There is a shock reverberating through the regional South Australian town of Whyalla and its crisis-hit steelworks. This week, administrators KordaMentha and SA Premier Peter Malinauskas jointly announced they would abandon all attempts to restart the steelworks’ blast furnace.
At least 500 workers will lose their jobs, along with 100 people employed through labour-hire arrangements. The future of a further 200 “embedded contractors” remains uncertain.