100 GOVERNMENT JOBS FOR QUEANBEYAN

100 GOVERNMENT JOBS FOR QUEANBEYAN – NONE FOR WOLLONGONG

25 August 2017

The NSW Government is announcing today the relocation of 100 jobs from the Finance and Education Departments to Queanbeyan in the Deputy Premier’s seat of Monaro.

But the Berejiklian Government has rejected a NSW Labor plan to relocate up to 200 jobs by moving Liquor and Gaming NSW from Sydney to Wollongong.

The commitment to relocate Liquor and Gaming NSW to Wollongong was made during the Wollongong by-election last November and is contained in NSW Labor’s $225 million Illawarra Jobs Action Plan.

The Berejiklian Government was invited to adopt the NSW Labor proposal, but has so far declined.

The Government has a Decade of Decentralisation policy of relocating up to 1500 public sector jobs to metropolitan and regional areas from the Sydney CBD over 10 years.

While public sector jobs have been relocated from NSW departments and agencies based in Sydney CBD to Western Sydney and other parts of regional NSW since March 2011, the Illawarra region continues to miss out.

So far only 38 public sector jobs have been relocated to Wollongong (33 jobs) and Nowra (5 jobs) from NSW Fisheries since March 2011.

Comments attributable to Paul Scully MP:

“Today’s announcement of public sector job relocations from Sydney CBD to Queanbeyan just puts up in lights the hypocrisy of the NSW Government’s Decade of Decentralisation policy.

“Last November during the Wollongong by-election, I announced a plan to relocate Liquor and Gaming NSW to Wollongong, which could deliver up to 200 new job opportunities to the region.

“I invited the Government to adopt my plan, but it has so far rejected my proposal.

“The Illawarra region has simply missed out on public sector job relocations under the Berejikilian Government’s decentralisation policy.

“We’ve only had 38 public sector jobs relocated to the Illawarra region from Sydney over the six years.

“If it is good enough to announce the relocation of 100 jobs from the Finance and Education departments to Queanbeyan, the Government should adopt my plan of relocating Liquor and Gaming NSW to Wollongong.”