NSW Labor's 3-point Plan for Coal Mine Workers

BY JARROD MELMETH

NSW Labor has announced a 3-point plan for coal mine workers, including those in the Hunter in an effort to improve job security and working conditions.

The plan includes a cap for contracted, labour-hire and casual coal mining of 20 percent which means at least 80 percent of workers on land subject to approval must be directly employed by the approval holder or any other entity that operates the mine.

A new licensing scheme for labour-hire companies would also be introduced which would require those operating in the mining industry to comply with laws regarding workplace safety, pay, and conditions - including providing the same pay and conditions as those enjoyed by directly employed workers.

Shadow Minister for Industrial Relations, Industry, and Resources Adam Searle said the plan will halt the creeping insecurity and the erosion of pay and conditions for workers in NSW.

"A Daley Labor Government wants well paid, secure and locally-based mining jobs in the coal mining industry. We know that many disputes arise because big mining companies want to casualise and contract out their work. This is bad for workers and the resulting disputes have disrupted the NSW coal supply.

"There has been too much contracting out of jobs in the industry, undermining the economic security of local workers. That has to stop, and Labor has a positive plan to work with companies and workers to ensure, decently paid jobs and a resilient industry," Mr Searle said.

Mr Searle went on to call on the National Party to sign on to the plan, accusing the party of desperate empty promises when it came to protecting workers.

Incumbent Upper Hunter Nationals MP Michael Johnsen said mandating how businesses run their business is ridiculous.

"It is a 3-point plan which is effectively going to shut the coal industry down even quicker than Labor want to do it by 2030.

The best thing Labor can do is, actually at a federal level, to support the Nationals legislation which is on the table and has already had its second read. All it is waiting on is a debate and a vote. That is what Labor need to support if they want to support workers in the mining industry," Mr Johnsen said.

Under the Nationals new legislation, all employees in the national system will have access to a minimum standard of right to request casual conversion which cannot be traded away, irrespective of whether their terms and conditions of employment are set by a modern award, enterprise agreement or any other targets.

CFMEU Northern Mining and NSW Energy District President Peter Jordan is applauding Labors plan describing it as "a practical initiative to address job insecurity in the industry and the Hunter region." Mr Jordan said.

NSW Government Urged To Release Costings On Promises

BY JARROD MELMETH

The state opposition is calling on the NSW Government to come clean about how it plans to pay for their promises leading up to the state election.

Labor says the Government's Pre-election Budget Update confirmed that the state net worth has fallen by $2.4 billion, the surplus has fallen by $273 million and the Berejiklian Government has not announced a single savings or revenue measure.

Shadow Minister for Finance and Member for Cessnock Clayton Barr said the government are making promises which cannot be funded by the existing budget.

"For the last 8 years, the way that the government has balanced the books has essentially been to sell the farm; you sell the kitchen sink, sell the caravan, sell the boat, sell the trailer.

"They have sold everything in New South Wales to, what they call to balance the books. It is a furphy. Eventually, you run out of things to sell.

"Going forward they're continuing to make promises they cannot afford which means they have to keep on selling stuff," Mr Barr said.

Labor says they have had all of their policies and promises costed by the parliamentary budget office and Mr Barr says he "challenges the government to do the same."

Labor Promises Fair Fares For Hunter School Kids

JARROD MELMETH

Hunter school children will be able to travel on public transport for free if Labor form government in the upcoming state election.

Local Labor MP's met with Charlestown resident Jason Brown to hear how the current student travel system has affected his family.

Mr Brown raised concerns about how his eight-year-old daughter would have to walk a long, dangerous route to get to school – the same route his son had been granted a pass to avoid, three years earlier.

Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp says the governments' priorities are all wrong.

"How could they think that saving money is more important than putting children's safety in danger? This is just another way Labor will ease the cost of living for families in Newcastle," Mr Crakanthorp said.

Shadow Minister for Transport Jodi McKay said children shouldn't be penalised by being forced to walk across busy roads because they don't fit into some arbitrary prescriptive rule.

Labor has also committed to doing a review of the Newcastle bus network as well as working on reinstating buses down Beaumont Street.

Labor MPs meeting with local residents.

Labor Pledges More Vaccinations In Hunter Pharmacies

BY JOSH SIM

The NSW Shadow Health Minister Walt Secord and Newcastle MP Tim Crackanthorp have visited a Hamilton pharmacy today to make a Labor election pledge for Hunter Pharmacies.

The party is promising under the plan, that from September 1, 2019, it will expand in-pharmacy vaccinations, currently available for the flu, to cover Diptheria, Tetanus, Whooping Cough and a second Measles vaccine.

The age limit for the pharmacy vaccinations would remain at 18.

Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp believes the benefit of the vaccines being readily available at pharmacies are two-fold, with both the expense of a GP visit and the timeliness being an added factor behind the party's proposal.

"It will enable [Newcastle Residents] to pop into the chemist and get vaccinated, it will be hugely beneficial in that manner," Mr Crackanthorp said.

The party also believes the proposal will have a flow-on effect in helping to raise the State's lower than acceptable vaccination rates.

Shadow Health Minister Walt Secord pointed out the Hunter had one of its worst years on record in 2017, with more than two-thousand confirmed cases of Influenza, while Pertussis (Whooping Cough) was also on the rise.

"The worrying thing this year is that we've already had 62 cases of Pertussis [in the Hunter]... while another worrying trend is the 3 people diagnosed with Mumps," Mr Secord said.

Labor believe by putting this proposal in place, it would complement the current vaccination programs, and reach out to those who normally don't get vaccinated.

Tim Crackanthorp, Pharmacy-Owner Anthony Piggott and Walt Secord discuss the proposal. 

Calls for the Government to ban plastic bags

BY LAURISE DICKSON

Member for Charlestown, Jodie Harrison is calling for the NSW Government to support Labor's commitment to ban single-use plastic bags.

In giving her Notice of Motion, Ms Harrison commended supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths who recently announced their plans to phase out single-use plastic bags over the next 12 months.

The Labor Government are urging the NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to follow in the footsteps of the ACT, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, who have all banned single-use plastic bags, with Queensland committing to do so next year.

"I call on the Premier to show some leadership and support NSW Labor in bringing an end to the use of these plastic bags," said Ms Harrison.

Ms Harrison believes the environment will continue to suffer if something isn't done to combat this issue.

"Plastic bags that are provided by retailers end up in our waterways and natural areas, and that damages our environment and our animals," said Ms Harrison.

"We've seen terrible photographs of turtles being caught in plastic bags and we know that fish end up with pieces of plastic inside them."

Ms Harrison says local residents can make a difference by choosing reusable bags over plastic bags when they shop.

"Whether they be cloth or silk, there are a lot of different bags that people can use."