The Andrews Government has again shown its disdain for the Latrobe Valley by hosting the State Electricity Commission Energy Jobs and Skills Forum in Melbourne last week, despite repeatedly claiming the SEC will be brought back to Morwell.
The Nationals Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron, said the decision to hold the event at the Park Hyatt was further evidence that Labor has no intention of delivering on its pie-in-the-sky promise.
“If we are to believe the SEC will be brought back to Morwell and deliver 59,000 jobs, then why was the jobs and skills expo held in Melbourne?” Mr Cameron said.
“The Latrobe Valley has powered Victoria for more than a century, and it’s here where the accelerated closure of coal-fired power stations will be felt.
“Unemployment in my electorate is almost double the state average, and we will lose thousands more jobs this year alone because of Labor’s shutdown of the timber industry and white paper production at Maryvale.
“But instead of addressing the jobs crisis in the Valley, Daniel Andrews is culling more local jobs and killing off sustainable industries.
“The SEC will not be based in Morwell, there is no funding in this year’s $44.5 million budget allocation for a Morwell office, and there is clearly no plan to replace the thousands of jobs that will be lost under this shambolic plan.”