Secretary’s wrap

Election day has come and gone, and while it took a long time to finally get a result, we now finally know that Malcolm Turnbull’s Coalition has retained government.

One thing that the results made very clear however was that the Liberal/National Party has failed to impress voters in its first term.

Whether it was their clear desire to scrap penalty rates, negative gearing, Medicare, or the party’s insistence on privatising anything they can get their hands on – including our public transport – there’s been a clear shift away from the Turnbull Government.

The Coalition hanging on for another term means a fight to protect penalty rates and our other workplace entitlements is no doubt on the cards. Prepare yourselves for a tough journey.

In other news, the State Government last week finally revealed what we knew all along – that its decision to rip up the heavy rail line into Newcastle was founded, at least in part, on a desire to sell off the valuable rail corridor to developers and not, as they tried to convince us, on the interests of the local community.

You can read more about the issue here, but the upshot is that the Government has applied to have the corridor rezoned, which will pave the way for development. We knew it all along, but now it’s all there in black and white for everyone to see. A big thanks to all the RTBU members who attended a snap rally in Newcastle last week in protest of the government’s moves.

Any finally, the ATSB recently released its report into the derailment of a PN coal train in August last year. The report is damning, showing that the company knew about the problem before the derailment, but didn’t take any action to address the issue. Click here to get the full overview.

I trust you’ll enjoy this edition of Loco Express. Stay safe on the tracks.

Bob Hayden
Secretary, Loco Division