A SIBELCO employee has criticised the state government's now defunct North Stradbroke Island Workers Assistance Scheme, saying support has failed to benefit staff still awaiting redundancy.
Administration officer Karen McGill said her redundancy package would be significantly less than workers who had already been made redundant, with the $5 million scheme expiring last week.
A state government spokeswoman said current and former Sibelco workers could access existing support through the Small Business, Employment and Training Department, but would no longer receive benefits under the Workers Assistance Scheme.
Ms McGill said the state government had refused worker requests to extend the support - including the employee dislocation allowance - for Sibelco staff who were still employed beyond the scheme's June 30 deadline.
She also criticised the government for introducing the scheme well before mining had ended on North Stradbroke Island, saying the time frame for support was "manifestly flawed".
The Workers Assistance Scheme was introduced in 2016 to provide staff with alternative employment opportunities and to support the island's economic viability beyond the end of sand mining.
Elements included in the scheme were job search support, housing assistance, income supplements, commuting subsidies and employer wage subsidies.
Capalaba MP Don Brown said workers who were still employed had been given extra time to decide on their future and would still receive redundancy payments under their entitlements.
"I think it makes sense," he said. "We recognised the need for transitioning and extra assistance.
"For those workers who kept their job for a longer period of time and had more knowledge of when the shutdown was going to occur, it is understandable that the assistance is not required for them."
Ms McGill said she stood to be paid out for just 13 weeks' work despite having been with the company since 1998.
She said workers had been "under stress" due to the looming assistance expiry date and had made numerous appeals to the department for support to be extended.
"When a perfectly viable business was closed by the Queensland government, millions of dollars were allocated to the Economic Transition Scheme to transition from mining," Ms McGill said.
"Our community has been devastated by the failure to start, let alone complete any of the projects that were touted to save the island's diminishing economy.
"Now the remaining elements that were promised to the affected workers and that would have filtered into the local economy have been denied."
About 50 Sibelco workers are still employed three years on from the end of sand mining on North Stradbroke Island.
A state government spokeswoman said the scheme was in place to supplement, not replace, the package Sibelco provided to its employees.
"[Since 2016] the Queensland Government has provided support to 184 Sibelco workers, which is a higher number than originally anticipated."
Oodgeroo MP Mark Robinson said it seemed "grossly unfair" that workers who would have been entitled to the assistance were financially disadvantaged because of their redundancy terms.
"The government's grand plans for the island to transition to eco-tourism after mining are painfully slow in coming to fruition," he said.
"Unfortunately, it appears the workers' pleas have fallen on deaf ears and the Premier and her ministers do not care. They continue to lack compassion for those affected by their actions."
Mr Brown called on Sibelco to give workers a redundancy payout that was up to expectations.
"There is nothing stopping Sibelco doing the right thing by these workers and having a better redundancy scheme for the loyalty they have shown to that company over many years," he said.
The Workers Assistance Scheme was originally scheduled to finish in May 2021 but was extended to the end of the 2021-22 financial year.
A state government spokeswoman said the extension was to allow former and current Sibelco workers more time to access assistance.
Read more local news here
