Griffin spending in spotlight
COLLIE RIVER VALLEY BULLETIN, APRIL 13, 2023 5
QUESTIONS continue to be raised about the State Government’s expenditure supporting Griffin Coal’s ongoing operations. It has been revealed in parliament that $7.3 million drawn down by Griffin’s receivers has gone to the repair of a broken
excavator along with additional mobilisation works to be undertaken in preparation for winter. Shadow Energy Minister Steve Thomas said the government’s $19.5 million bailout package has gone to a company
that’s “all but bust”. “This is a sign of the dreadful mismanagement and the terrible financial position of Griffin, which has endured 10 years of poor oversight,” Mr Thomas said. Mr Thomas said there is “no way in the
Cybercrimes going unreported VICTIMS of cybercrimes often don’t report they’ve been scammed, with potentially only 15 percent of scams being reported, according to IDCARE team leader Rob Blackmore. Mr Blackmore was in Collie last week, running a cybersecurity roadshow focused on raising awareness about scammers and identity theft. He said there was a good turnout for the information session, which covered large-scale events such as the recent Latitude Financial cyberattack, and the Optus and Medibank data breaches. “There’s very few crimes in Australia, at least attempted crimes, that reach as many people as cybercrimes,” SCAM STOPPER: IDCARE team leader Rob Blackmore conducted an informaMr Blackmore said. tion session at the Collie Public Library last week. “Our message is universal – kids, adults, older people, everyone needs to cyber scams than metro areas. He said money, take out loans in your name,” hear it.” this could be attributed to less services he said. Mr Blackmore said cybercrime vic- being available, with a typical scam“If you keep your ID safe and don’t tims often suffer embarrassment that mer tactic being to isolate victims from send it in an unsafe way, that’s a big they’ve been scammed, which leads to help. part of it. Don’t have the same passcrimes going unreported. “Essentially, the scammers are after words for all of your accounts. Use Mr Blackmore said postcode data re- your ID, that they then use to create password managers if you can, and use veals regional areas suffer more from credit, transaction accounts, launder multi-factor authentication.”
world” Griffin has repaired its operational problems, with the Indian bank-owned company to require taxpayer-funded payouts “ad infinitum”. “Both the government and Griffin Coal would rather keep all of these things a secret,” he said. “I don’t see why we can’t have an honest conversation around the fact that we’re propping up a company that has, in my view, zero chance of paying off its debts.” Mr Thomas pointed to the disconnect between the government simultaneously supporting a coal company while transitioning to renewable energy sources. “Perhaps that’s why the government is intent on propping it up, because it’s finally worked out that its own transition plan is a flop,” he said.
South32 funds for young workers
SOUTH32 Worsley Alumina will provide the not-for-profit Motivation Foundation’s Collie-based Civil and Mining Academy financial support, along with mentoring and work experience opportunities, under a new partnership. The academy helps local young people gain qualifications, and provides practical support as they work towards fulltime employment. "A shared dedication to assisting young Western Australians to change their life trajectory is the mainstay of this partnership," Motivation Foundation CEO Tim Hunter said.
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