29 Jobs to go in Goulburn - 'Coward Goward' votes to gag debate
Back to NewsWith the jobs of 372 NSW corrective service workers on the budget chopping block, Pru Goward has conspired to whitewash 29 cuts in the Goulburn electorate from parliamentary scrutiny, Labor Duty MLC for Goulburn Mick Veitch said today.
An attempt by the Opposition to debate the prison cuts affecting Goulburn – revealed in a leaked Government memo this week – as a "motion accorded priority" was snuffed out on Thursday when the Government used its bloated majority in the Legislative Assembly to change the subject.
According to the leaked plan, Goulburn Gaol stands to lose 26 jobs and Berrima Gaol 3 jobs (if the Berrima facility does not close altogether).
"I call on Pru Goward to defend her electorate\'s interests in the parliament instead of selling out to advance her career ambitions in Sydney," Mr Veitch said today.
"Pru Goward never said a word about prison job cuts before the election. When they cast their vote, Goulburn residents never saw this budget booby trap coming.
"Barry O\'Farrell is bent on executing his ivory-tower master plan, the Southern Highlands be damned – and Pru Goward is too much of a coward to stop him.
"By voting to gag debate, Pru Goward has shown she simply couldn\'t care less about corrective service workers and their families in her electorate. These people may not be a priority for Pru Goward but they are at their wits\' end for fear of losing their livelihoods.
"As the leaked memo makes clear, 372 state-wide prison job cuts are being signed off as we speak – including 29 in the Goulburn electorate. Indeed the sacking of staff has already begun.
"This prison slash is a kick in the guts to local residents. It will compromise community safety and devastate the Southern Highlands economy – in a close-knit community like this every cut hurts."