Alan Veacock, Cumbalum
At its most recent meeting, the Ballina Branch of Country Labor discussed at length the recently released NSW State Budget.
The branch points out that the budget will do little to mitigate the continuing job losses in regional areas since the coalition state government came to power in 2011.
Since the electricity industry was privatised, some 600 jobs in the industry have been lost in regional NSW with many more still to go, something the Nationals promised would never happen.
More than 150 local public service jobs are to go as a result of a three per cent efficiency dividend, in child care, disability sector, teacher assistants, national parks rangers and the Murwullumbah firearms registry.
The branch members overwhelmingly agreed that the continuing loss of public sector jobs in regional NSW is completely unacceptable and resolved to ensure that a future Foley state Labor government would reverse the privatisation of our essential services, restore TAFE funding and create jobs by better investment in essential infrastructure.
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