Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The people of Bendigo in Central Victoria have launched a campaign called Save Our Local Jobs. It is community groups, it is unions, it is workers—these people are coming together to call on this government to do more to save our local jobs. They are saying, and they are quite right, that this current government has no plan to create and secure jobs in Bendigo in Central Victoria and they have kick-started this campaign. It is a petition campaign, and there will be a public meeting. People are speaking out about the need for this government to do more to help safeguard and secure local jobs.

One of the dot points they are calling for is for this government to sign more procurement contracts—defence manufacturing contracts that will help safeguard and lock in local jobs in Bendigo. Before we started this petition the government had not yet signed the Hawkei contract, so we are glad that they have agreed to the first point of our campaign—to sign the Hawkei contract to lock in local Thales defence manufacturing jobs. This contract will secure about 200 jobs at the facility in Bendigo. We want this government to lock in more procurement contracts. There is more work that they can do in Bendigo and Central Victoria to lock in local defence manufacturing jobs. It just makes sense. They can use Australian taxpayers' dollars not only to support our armed services to ensure that they have the best equipment but also to lock in those local highly skilled, well-paid manufacturing jobs.

The group is also calling for the government to guarantee locals will be offered jobs first before these jobs go to 417 visa and 457 visa workers. We have a problem in Central Victoria and across Australia that more and more jobs are going to people who work for labour hire firms who are here as guest workers. It is a problem that we have in our food manufacturing here in Central Victoria, whether it be at Hazeldene's Chicken Farm poultry factory or at Don-KR in Castlemaine. Too many local jobs are going to people who are here on 417 work visas instead of going to locals first.

In this campaign we are also calling for: save our local jobs and safeguard Australian jobs under any free trade agreement. This week I am proud that the Labor opposition has announced a series of reforms that would help safeguard Australian job, and we are calling on the government to sign up to those amendments to the ChAFTA enabling legislation that will help safeguard jobs.

This is a critical issue for regional Australia. For all those regional MPs who stand up and talk about how important this is for the farm gate, don't forget about supporting the workers in regional communities. Do not continue to divide our communities. This is a chance to help rebuild our communities and support the trades. Let's not continue this division between farmers and tradies. We want the government to safeguard Australian jobs under any free trade agreement.

The petition is also calling for the government to reverse the massive funding cuts to health, education and community services that cost lots of jobs like in my electorate of Bendigo. Too many social workers and counsellors lost their jobs—people who are doing good work to ensure the most vulnerable in our community receive support. The government can support these organisation and the jobs that go with it—jobs that are needed in our regional areas.

We are also calling for the government to stop closing down local government agencies. In my electorate, the coalition of the ATO in Bendigo. We know that these jobs have been lost to our electorate, and other MPs in this place are claiming the creation of these jobs. These jobs have simply been transferred from one regional area to another. These are not new jobs; they have taken jobs from my electorate in Bendigo to other parts of the country. That is simply not fair.

What this government has also done is close down the Australian Emergency Management Institute in my electorate and sacked the public servants who worked there—that is 60 local public servant jobs that have been lost from my electorate from the Australian Emergency Management Institute who are responsible for ensuring that we have world-class best practice when it comes to on emergency management. In Central Victoria it is critical that we continue to have these services not just because these are good local jobs but because of the role which they play in our community.

Finally, we are calling on the government to fast-track regional development projects. Just yesterday the state member for Bendigo East, Jacinta Allan, who is the Victorian transport minister, called on the Turnbull government to back the Murray Basin Rail Project. These are good jobs. We are calling on this government to help save local jobs, and to get behind Bendigo and Central Victoria. (Time expired)