ONE year on from the State election, local Labor has the knives out for Goulburn MP Pru Goward.
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Yesterday, members delivered a damning assessment of Ms Goward’s last 12 months in office.
“All we have witnessed is cuts to schools, TAFE, hospitals, services and jobs,” former candidate and Senator Ursula Stephens said in the statement.
“The botched introduction of the new computer system for schools is now $90 million over budget and only available in 10 per cent of schools.”
The list went on.
News of proposed job cuts at Goulburn Railway Station will not help Ms Goward’s cause.
Goulburn Railway Station has already undergone cuts in the past few years. The stated six jobs there now is in fact five as management has not replaced a recently vacated position, pending the review outcome.
Let’s remember that these jobs are split across three shifts so at any one time, the station is operating at a minimum.
NSW TrainLink’s proposed cuts will hit regional areas hard. The job losses themselves have a major economic ripple effect but passengers suffer too.
It is all very well for NSW Trainlink to say more people are booking online to justify the cuts. But where is the hard evidence?
We know that people in country areas, particularly the elderly, are not doing this quite as much and prefer face to face contact.
The Opal card system and the fact they can’t get one at the Station itself, is a pure nightmare.
Local circumstances need to be considered in any wholesale review.
Late yesterday, following the Post’s earlier questions, Ms Goward was realising the gravity of the situation.
She will join RTBU secretary Alex Classens in a meeting with workers in the next few weeks.
“We both agree that to lose three positions in a country town is no small thing,” she said.
“It has also been pointed out that these staff often do other things that are not included in their job description.”
Unions and management are collaborating in the review, with a business case to be formulated in the next few months.
Let’s hope something positive emerges and for everyone’s sake, jobs can be saved. If this was all about improving the rail service, one might understand.
But as we all know, in Goulburn it is still sadly lacking in this department. It’s another challenge for Ms Goward.