Looking back at November 25, 1993
The plan to build two oil rigs at Port Kembla saw almost 2000 applications for just 300 jobs.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
And those applications came in before the positions had even been advertised.
Transfield was building the substructure for the oil rigs' platform, which would be placed into Bass Strait.
Around 60 positions would start before Christmas with the remainder due to kick off early the following year and most would see people working for a few months of the 16-month contract.
Transfield CEO George Thomas had said the bulk of the workforce would be recruited from within the Illawarra.
The federal Employment, Education and Training Department was given the job of handling the recruitment and they were expecting even more applications in the coming weeks.
The rigs would actually take three years to construct and, once completed in 1996, they were towed out of Port Kembla and 600 kilometres down the coast to their final destination in Bass Strait.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
