Gippsland › Latest news › Darren Chester MP
Andrews Labor government refusal to stand up for workers resulted to hundreds of blue-collar job loss for Gippsland
Maryvale mill shuts down, Andrews Labor government turning a blind eye on hundreds of blue-collar workers and families who depend on the mill.
I stand to inform the House that, yesterday, 200 workers at the Australian Maryvale mill lost their jobs. They didn't lose their jobs because they weren't good at them, they didn't lose their jobs because their product wasn't good enough, and they didn't lose their jobs because their product wasn't in demand in Australia. They lost their jobs because the Andrews Labor government refuses to stand up for timber workers in our state.
VicForests has been unable to resolve the wood supply situation which resulted in hundreds of workers being stood down and the local manufacturing of white copy paper cease
Stand up for the workers
I heard a member of the opposite party say 'rubbish'. Pick up the phone and talk to your Premier and talk to some of your ministerial colleagues in Victoria and explain to them why you don't support a sustainable native hardwood timber industry in Victoria, because Victorians do believe in the future of their native hardwood timber industry.
What we saw yesterday in Victoria, where we lost our last manufacturer of white copy paper, was a direct result of Victorian Labor's refusal to stand up for Victorian blue-collar workers, a refusal to stand up for blue-collar workers at the Maryvale mill, because your government, the Victorian Labor government, wants to shut down all timber harvesting in that state.
I know that, on the other side, there are some very reasonable people, some very reasonable Victorian men and women, who understand the value of a hard day's work, earning your pay and being supported by your government, not being run out of business. It is an absolute corruption of good public policy to do what Dan Andrews is doing to the Victorian people. You know it. Pick up the phone and talk to him. Stand up for blue-collar workers like old Labor members used to.
Pictures from Australian Forests & Timber News Facebook page.
Source: http://gippsland.com/
Published by: news@gippsland.com
Latest News
Darren Chester warns East Gippsland faces potential cuts o $20M in road safety projects
Free disposal of unwanted clothing program starts with transfer stations at Lardner and Trafalgar by Upcylce4Better and Baw Baw Shire Council

Gippsland students from Grade 5 to Year 12 are encouraged to enter 2023 Parliament Prize competition by 16 June 2023

Crossbench federal MPs urged to visit Gippsland timber towns to learn of Victorian government ignorance and hypocrisy first hand

Martin Cameron warns Andrews Labor government to repeat past mistakes of negatively impacting local communities by neglecting regional roads

Motor Neurone Disease has Big Freeze fundraiser at Bairnsdale Oval with Darren Chester 10 June 2023

Ella Fothergill and Chloe Bethune from Federation University Gippsland win Gippsland Water Indigenous Scholarship

Gippsland road maintenance slashed by 25% for total reduction of 45% since 2020 by Andrews Labor government

Review of utilities resilience for blackout prevention and emergency response times demanded by Danny O'Brien

South Gippsland wins Corporate & Community Planning award at LGPro COnference on 24 May 2023 and more updates
