June 18, 2013
The Electrical Trades Union believes Ergon depots in the South Burnett could be facing closure by the State Government.
In a media release today, the union has seized on comments by Energy Minister Mark McArdle’s office as evidence the government will push ahead with large-scale closures of Ergon depots in regional and remote Queensland.
The union claims the final Independent Review Panel report (2.2MB PDF), released on Sunday, calls for the closure of depots with less than 15 staff.
A list of Ergon depots that the ETU says have around the 8-15 staff mark include Kilkivan, Murgon and Yarraman.
ETU State Secretary Peter Simpson said details of the plan left the union fearful for around 30 depots in regional and remote areas of Queensland.
“Recommendation 23 of the IRP Report essentially calls for the closure of depots with less than 15 staff,” he said.
The union said a spokesperson for Mr McArdle’s office had confirmed the State Government had in principal accepted recommendation 23.
Mr Simpson said the comments, published in a Bundaberg newspaper, “show the government has abandoned the bush and will leave many isolated communities at severe risk”.
“Our information shows that there are more than 30 depots at risk and that number doesn’t include Energex depots with similar numbers which may be affected due to the proposed merger,” he said.
Mr Simpson said it was not good enough for “so-called country MPs” to sit on their hands and let this happen.
“We call on all members of Parliament to publicly stand up for their communities and tell the Brisbane-centric Minister and Premier to scrap this destructive anti–bush recommendation,” he said.
