VIC

No final decision to shut the La Trobe Valley’s Hazelwood power plant, energy minister Josh Frydenberg has insisted today, as reports continue that its French majority owner is set to close the site by April if a buyer doesn’t come forward.

Holden will upgrade its emissions testing lab at its proving ground, east of Melbourne, spending $9 million and creating 11 new jobs.

A local federal member has confirmed that the government is considering a bailout package for Gippsland, with the government reportedly expecting the Hazelwood power station could close next week.

The sale of the Ford manufacturing sites will come no time soon, the company’s Australian boss has said.

When Ford closes the doors on its vehicle manufacturing operations today about 600 workers will walk out of the factory gate for the last time at the Broadmeadows assembly plant in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and at the company’s engine and stamping plants in Geelong. Preliminary results from a survey of more than 400 auto workers show that most of them still want to work but are unlikely to find secure, long-term jobs.

Ford Australia will produce its last car ever this morning, with pictures of “The Last Falcon Sedan” appearing on a Ford Facebook fan page.

The closure of Ford’s casting plant in Geelong does make you wonder how losing the ability to make our own engines can be a step forward. Australia should take stock and contemplate what kind of society we are becoming.

The first autonomous car to be made in Australia has been unveiled in Victoria this week. Using the shell of a Tesla Model S with electronic components from Bosch, the manufacturers claim the car is 10 years ahead of other autonomous cars on the market.

A study of 400 Victorian auto industry employees has found only 13 per cent have started looking for new jobs.

Last night Austeng and Imagine Intelligent Materials jointly won an award for the establishment of Australia’s first commercial graphene plant.

ASX-listed wearable technology company dorsaVI has received a Victorian government grant worth $350,000, which it will use to assist in developing its Jolimont facilities.

The Portland aluminium smelter would be at a heightened risk of closure if the Hazelwood power station shut, an outcome which may be decided next month.

The last six-cylinder and V8 engines were produced at Geelong yesterday, part of the company’s staged shutdown and finishing with the last vehicle being produced at Broadmeadows on October 7.

An industrial dispute at McCain’s Wendouree site will continue into next week, with workers voting to reject a new enterprise bargaining agreement today.

The Port of Melbourne has been sold to a consortium including Queensland Infrastructure Corporation, Global Infrastructure Partners and Canada’s Borealis for $9.7 billion, a price the Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas called a “pleasant surprise”.

A local business owner and president of the South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance has said companies in Dandenong South are suffering from delayed access to the National Broadband Network.

The Victorian government has bought Holden’s Fishermans Bend site for a reported $130 million, and has said it hopes to only hold the site temporarily and to see it turned into an advanced industrial hub.

The Victorian government has announced it will permanently ban unconventional gas, often produced through the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”. Legislation to implement the ban will be introduced this year.

A $250,000 project fund to support carbon fibre and advanced fibre-based manufacturing in Geelong was announced on Thursday afternoon, aiming to assist in commercialising collaborative projects between firms and researchers.

The NSW and Victorian governments are considering action – including dropping current moratoriums on exploration – to deal with the east coast gas shortage.