Visy owner creating 5,000 jobs

Anthony Pratt, Australia’s richest man, has committed to a $2bn investment in Australia over the next decade, potentially creating thousands of jobs.

Pratt says, “The $2bn investment pledge I am announcing will be spent expanding Visy’s manufacturing capabilities throughout Australia including new investments in clean energy.

“We are one of the most environmentally committed companies, and so much of the $2bn will be spent on technologies that not only create those high-paying manufacturing jobs, but also enhance sustainability and energy security.

“At the end of the 10-year investment program, Visy’s total investment in Australia will be $8bn in today’s terms, and we will have created a total of almost 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.”

The announcement was made at Visy’s Tumut plant in NSW, alongside Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Visy invested $50m in the Tumut plant in May.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull welcomed the announcement, saying, “What a pledge – $2bn over ten years, 5,000 jobs. I tell you that is a big commitment. That really moves the needle. That will change lives, thousands of them for the better.”

In addition to this investment pledge, Pratt recently unveiled his plan to give away a $1bn in philanthropic efforts within his lifetime. The money will be funded from the cash flows of his businesses in Australia and the USA, which support initiatives including the Global Food Forums in both countries.

The Australian pledge follows from a $2bn pledge to America, made in front of Donald Trump in New York City in May.

Anthony Pratt owns Visy Australia with his sisters, and wholly owns Pratt Industries, its sister packaging company in the US. The rapid growth of Pratt Industries has propelled Pratt up the rankings to become Australia’s richest man, largely driven by its 100 per cent recycled content, which Pratt says exploded in popularity after the release of An Inconvenient Truth in 2006.

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