‘Terrible start to the year’: Hundreds of jobs to be slashed as Alcoa to shut Perth refinery

US mining giant Alcoa announced on Tuesday that it will close its Perth alumina refinery over the coming months, leaving the future of 1,000 employees in limbo. Nationals MP Keith Pitt said the closure of the refinery is a “terrible start” to 2024. “What a terrible start to the year to 2024 for more than 700 … individuals who will lose their jobs, and potentially that’s 750 families," Mr Pitt told Sky News host Caleb Bond. “The reason are pretty straightforward that this is a legacy factory, a legacy refinery, it’s been around for a long time. “According to media reports it’s been underwater by more than $1 million in terms of the loss for the year, last financial year. “And you now have the impact of Labor government policies, like the safeguard mechanism, like changes to IR, like a massive increase in energy costs.”