IT’S NOT JUST THE PHONES, MR ANDERSON
MEDIA RELEASE, 24 June 2005
The National Party needs to do much more for its regional and rural constituents than fighting for decent regional phone services, NTEU Victorian Division Secretary Matthew McGowan said today.
Speaking in Horsham on the occasion of departing National Party Leader John Anderson’s visit to Horsham, Mr McGowan said “the concerns about service levels for regional Australia if Telstra is fully sold are legitimate. But in other significant areas such as education and industrial relations the National Party is clearly neglecting its regional supporters.”
“Over the last 2 years we’ve seen the loss of engineering courses at Monash University’s Gippsland campus, the downgrading of La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus to a rural outpost, and now the University of Melbourne has announced its withdrawal from its regional education commitments with several campuses threatened.”
“The University of Ballarat appears to be positioning itself for a serious downgrading to a ‘teaching only’ institution. The introduction of Voluntary Student Unionism legislation will have a devastating effect on not just students attending regional campuses, but the whole communities in which they are located.”
“The National Party is strongly supporting the Government’s industrial relations changes that will lead to lower living standards and restricted workplace rights for regional and rural workers.”
Mr McGowan said it is time the National Party paid more attention to issues other than the phone system.
“The change of leadership is a perfect time for the Nationals to do a stocktake of its priorities and take a lead from their Victorian colleagues – at least in Victoria, National Party MPs are raising concerns about these important issues.”
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITY
Mr McGowan will be Horsham from 1 – 2pm today and is available for media interviews
Phone 0417 054 110
For further information and comment:
Matthew McGowan 0417 054 110
Michael Evans (media) 0418 241 664