Vigil to Take Place Tonight at Branxton After Greta Bus Tragedy

BY JACQUELYN RICHARDS

Members of a heartbroken Hunter community will gather in Branxton tonight for a vigil in honor of the victims and emergency service workers involved in the horrific bus crash at Greta last Sunday. 

Ten lives were claimed in the tragedy and thirteen people remain in hospitals across the Hunter and Sydney. 

Federal Member for Hunter Dan Repacholi says the event is important for those who wish to pay their respects and thank everyone involved in recovery and support efforts. 

"It is an absolute tragedy for the community, and not only the community of the Hunter but a tragedy for Australia," he said. 

"It certainly is important to thank everybody involved in this and whilst we are mourning with this tragic loss, they do an amazing job the first responders and anyone in the services area do amazing things and keep people safe and secure."

The vigil will start at 5:30pm on the grassed area in front of Huntlee's Early Learning Centre on Wine Country Drive.

Community crisis centres are still running at the Singleton Youth Venue and Branxton Community Hall for those in need of disaster relief and counselling.  

Lifeline is also available for support via the crisis support line: 13 11 14. 

 

Sourced: Newcastle Herald website

Essential Hunter Workers Call to Scrap the Public Sector Wage Cap

BY OLIVIA DILLON

Essential workers from the Hunter gathered at the John Hunter Hospital this morning, in a bid to address issues surrounding wages and staff shortages. 

Ahead of the event, Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey, launched a new report, detailing how much health and education workers will be out-of-pocket if the wage cap for public sector workers isn't scrapped. 

The research into the impact of the wage cap on the pay packets of essential workers shows it will leave nurses, paramedics and teachers worse-off by between $10,000 and $12,000 dollars when adjusted for inflation over 3 years.

It also details how the 3% wage cap is adding to critical staff shortages, noting vacancies for education professionals in the region have tripled. 

Mark Morey said something needs to be done. 

"We're calling on the NSW Government to get rid of the cap, and to negotiate wage increases for its essential workers," he said. 

He said scrapping the cap is the only way to address mass vacancies across the Hunter. 

Image: Newcastle Herald

New Emergency Operations Centre Unveiled in Newcastle Today

 BY SAMUEL BARTLETT

Newcastle Council has unveiled a state of the art centre to coordinate the efforts of first responders across the city.

The Local Emergency Operations Centre is designed to be a flexible space allowing customer service and incident response to occur under the same roof. Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes says the centre has been a priority for a while and will assist emergency workers protect the city.

She says, "the principle here for us at council, and that $1.8 million investment into this space, is primarily to support our first responders across the board."

"From fire and rescue, police, to our welfare agencies, if we're supporting them that means our communities is best supported during an emergency."

The new centre is equipped with multiple monitoring screens, showering facilities and kitchen area.

Flexible work-spaces: the customer service area may also be used by emergency responders

Deputy Director of Operations for NSW ambulance Jordan Emery says being able to coordinate all emergency services in one place is vital when there's a major disaster in the city.

"The simple reality of having everyone in a room like this that leverages technology to share information is absolutely crucial to the success of emergency management,

"To have everyone together in this space to have the technology to be able to share the information broadly influences the timeliness of our response to different emergencies."

Jordan Emery at the Newcastle Local Emergency Operations Centre

Kitchen area of the Local Emergency Operations Centre