Australian Antarctic Division explore options to bring expeditioners home after industrial dispute
Expeditioners have been stranded on Macquarie Island after an industrial dispute. Now, the Australian Antarctic Division is working to bring them home. Here’s what led to the situation.
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The Australian Antarctic Division is exploring options to retrieve expeditioners from Macquarie Island, after an industrial dispute halted its icebreaker operations.
In a final Senate hearing on Wednesday, AAD head Emma Campbell said the division was looking at contingency shipping options to get staff home.
It comes after a resupply mission to Mawson Research Station was disrupted after the Nuyina’s crane experienced technical issues, an issue revealed earlier this month.
Not long after, officers and engineers took industrial action against Serco – the company awarded the contract to design and build the Nuyina.
“One of the things we are doing is looking at contingency shipping again so that we can get our expeditioners home from Macquarie Island. You can understand that people have been there for a year and are very keen to get home,” Ms Campbell said.
“There are promising options available that we’re exploring now. We’re hopeful that Serco can resolve its dispute with the unions, but we will get our people home.
“The contingency money that was provided by government after these conversations about the overspends provides us with the flexibility to go out and hire another ship in this instance, should we need it.”
Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson, who chaired the hearing, asked if taxpayers will foot the bill for the crane malfunction.
“Our understanding is that this is part of their maintenance program, which is part of the contract that we have,” AAD logistics branch head Rhonda Bartley said.
At the time of the disrupted resupply mission to Mawson, an AAD spokesperson said partial operation allowed for critical supplies to be transported by helicopter.
Ms Campbell confirmed at the hearing only 53 per cent of the cargo was transported.
“We got all the fuel off, which was very positive. What we didn’t get off was some of the work for our trades to do some of the maintenance that they were planning to do and, sadly, some of the personal effects for some of the expeditioners,” she said.
“One of the station leaders at Macquarie talks about how luckily they had spare boots in her size, so she has boots for the winter. And then, also critically, some of the dried food — for example, coffee.”
Senator Whish-Wilson asked Ms Campbell if Mawson would require an additional resupply.
“That’s what we’re looking at now. We’re having really positive conversations with the Department of Defence about potentially doing an airdrop to Mawson,” she said.
“We’re working through the logistics of that and hopeful that defence asset will be available to the network.
“The base has enough to get on with for the winter. Clearly having more equipment for the trades, those personal effects and the coffee are really important for quality of life for our expeditioners.”
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Originally published as Australian Antarctic Division explore options to bring expeditioners home after industrial dispute
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