102 Job Cuts: Orange Loses $8m
The current Liberal-National Party Government took electricity privatisation to the last election. Now the job cuts that were guaranteed to not happen will start after a Fair Work Commission decision.
Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party Member for Orange Philip Donato hit-back at the Liberal-National Government for failing protect 102 jobs in the Orange electorate created by the publicly-owned electricity distributor Essential Energy.
"Yesterday, the Fair Work Commission granted Essential Energy the permission to half of it's workforce statewide," Mr Donato said.
"This is a part of 600 rural job cuts across New South Wales. Essential Energy employs 205 people in our electorate, and I'm concerned with what the impact of shedding half their workforce will have on our community. For every 13 jobs that are cut, that's $1 million ripped out of our local economy - so that's $8 million from the Orange electorate."
Forced redundancies for these job cuts will start before Christmas and the Fair Work Commission's decision also removed restrictions from further cuts from 1 July 2018.
"I may have only been elected three days ago, but I won't stand for my electorate getting a raw deal because the Nationals aren't intervening to protect rural jobs - they're just doing whatever the Liberal Party wants them to. The Liberal Party took this policy to the 2015 election and the Nationals just did what they were told and supported it.
"Not only is the Orange electorate facing job cuts from the forced Council merger of Orange City Council, Cabonne Shire and Blayney Shire Council, but now we have job cuts from Essential Energy. We can't handle cut after cut to local jobs.
"The NSW Government is the 100 per cent of Essential Energy and has the power to intervene and save these jobs.
"John Barilaro is travelling to Orange this week as part of his listening tour. I call on Mr Barilaro and the Nationals to stop doing what the Liberal Party tells them to do, and stand up against these job cuts from city-centric Liberal Party policies."
Essential Energy employs approximately 205 people in the Orange electorate:
- Canowindra 10 jobs
- Forbes 21 jobs
- Wellington 20 jobs
- Peak Hill 7 jobs
- Molong 10 jobs
- Orange 98 jobs
- Parkes 39 jobs
Download Philip Donato's Press Release
