February 12, 2021 12477076-DL02-21
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Show your love for local Highton florist Jen Gross is urging locals to buy Australian-grown roses this Valentine’s Day, her 39th in the industry. “I try to buy Australian roses,” she said. “I want to support local as much as I can because we need to keep our economy growing. “Flowers are imported from all over the world – a lot of people probably don’t realise that. They come from Kenya, Asia and all over the place.” Business has bloomed for the floral industry amid COVID-19, according to Jen. “A lot of people can’t see each other, because of the lockdowns, and have been sending each other cheery-up flowers instead,” she said. With a couple of sleeps yet to go, Jen was unsure how busy this Valentine’s Day would be. “People don’t usually place the orders until the last minute,” she laughed. “We’d love people to place orders early but they don’t. It will all happen toward the end of the week.” Luke Voogt
Florist Kacey Smits. (Louisa Jones) 228097_06
Refinery one of the last By Luke Voogt and Goya Dmytryshchak Geelong’s Viva Energy refinery could be the last left operating in Australia by 2022, following ExxonMobil’s closure of its Altona refinery. The oil giant on Wednesday announced to 300 workers that the refinery would close after 72 years of operation. One of four remaining refineries in Australia, Mobil’s Altona operations have been affected by COVID-19 border closures, flight cancellations and stay home orders. Demand for jet fuel has dropped by up to 90 per cent. ExxonMobil on Wednesday said the
Altona refinery was “no longer considered economically viable” and would be converted into an import terminal to “ensure ongoing, reliable fuel supply for Victoria”. ExxonMobil said the Altona refinery would remain in operation while transition work was undertaken “to ensure continued, reliable fuel supply for our Mobil customers”. The closure follows BP Australia’s decision to make its Kwinana site in Western Australia an import terminal in 2022. Ampol’s site at Lytton in Queensland is under review, with a decision expected to be announced in June. Viva Energy chief executive Scott Wyatt said “while refining remains very challenging”,
the company was committed to working with the federal government to implement its fuel security package. Viva was also committed to working on investments with the state government and its planned LNG regasification facility to improve the refinery’s “competitiveness and long-term sustainability”, he said. While “a lot needs to be finalised”, Viva was making good progress and was encouraged by the support of government, business partners and the community for “the important role we play” in Australia’s energy security, Mr Wyatt said. Victorian senator Sarah Henderson on
Wednesday said the Altona closure meant Geelong’s refinery would be eligible for a greater share of the federal government’s production payment grants. Last December, the federal government announced an “accelerated” production payment, worth $83.5 million over six months. Australia’s major oil refineries will receive one cent in taxpayer funding per litre of petrol, diesel and jet fuel. The federal government initially announced a fuel security package worth a total of 1.15 cents per litre for July 1 but brought forward the one cent production payment component to January 1.
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