A FEDERAL Labor plan aimed at getting more rail infrastructure made in Australia would mean more jobs and work in Bendigo, according to MP Lisa Chesters.<\/p>\n
Last week the local member said Labor\u2019s National Rail Manufacturing Plan would prioritise businesses like the Bendigo Rail Workshop, which in the past saw its workforce reduced to just eight people on the shop floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, they\u2019re back up to close to 100 and how they\u2019ve got there is no accident,\u201d Ms Chesters said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s because there was a prioritisation at the state level through the State Labor Government to do maintenance and refurbishment work of our rail here in Australia, in Victoria, and Bendigo has benefited from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Chesters said the national rail plan would build on the State Government\u2019s work by establishing an Office of National Rail Industry Coordination to put Australia-based building and maintenance of rail infrastructure first.<\/p>\n
The plan would also mandate local apprenticeships for rail contracts.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur local manufacturers are happy to compete against other Australian manufacturers, making sure that it\u2019s a fair market but we\u2019ve got to set rules in place,\u201d Ms Chesters said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are Australian taxpayers\u2019 dollars, we want to skill up the next generation\u2026 and we want to make sure that that work comes here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Assistant national secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers\u2019 Union, Glenn Thompson, said the group had been lobbying both major parties for a rail industry plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been talking to Labor and for that matter we have been trying to talk to the [Federal] Government but we knock on their doors and no one\u2019s home, to be frank,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis plan gives\u2026 employers like Bendigo Rail Workshop certainty to invest in people, jobs, infrastructure and knowing that they\u2019ve got the opportunity for long term contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n
AMWU representative for the workshop, Darren Thompson, said the plan was \u201cfantastic\u201d for the site and would mean job security for workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore rolling stock means there\u2019s more chance of us winning tenders for the company and that means we\u2019ve got security of work and we can go home at night and sleep well because we know that we\u2019ve got two or three years work ahead of us, which we don\u2019t always have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a fairly broad group of skills here, we\u2019ve made our own locos from the ground up so we can do anything, really.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A FEDERAL Labor plan aimed at getting more rail infrastructure made in Australia would mean more jobs and work in Bendigo, according to MP Lisa Chesters. Last week the local member said Labor\u2019s National Rail Manufacturing Plan would prioritise businesses like the Bendigo Rail Workshop, which in the past saw its workforce reduced to just […]<\/p>\n