What's Happening in Moorabbin, VIC…

The Moorabbin factory of international cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris is to be shut down by the end of this year.

The announcement by Managing Director John Gledhill will directly affect 180 staff currently employed at the site.

After many years at the location, the company’s decision-makers cited reduced fire risk requirements imposed by the Government as a key motivator towards the decision to shut down the Moorabbin operations. It was also in-line with a proposal to shift all Australian production overseas to Korea by next year.

In a recent report by Reader’s Digest, careless smoking was named as the third most common cause of house fires, claiming many people failed to realise that a butt has the ability to smoulder for several hours before igniting into flames.

To address the issue, federal legislation was introduced to lower the ignition propensity. The aim was to effectively reduce the risk of the discarded cigarette from igniting after use.

Gledhill said the added restrictions, which were introduced in 2010, had contributed to the under-utilisation of the Moorabbin factory.

News of the closure was a devastating blow to employees. It is also the end of an era for Philip Morris, which had first moved to the site almost 60 years ago at a time when marketing cigarettes through Print companies and television campaigns was commonplace. The Moorabbin factory was also the company’s first outlet outside the US.Get a Free Quote for Print