The
State Government’s decision to shut down the West Coast Wilderness Railway is
very disappointing and a huge blow to the region and the workers employed by
the railway.
The
workers and the West Coast community have been left completely in the dark over
the decision.
There
has been no consultation with either of these critical stakeholder groups which
is extremely poor.
The
railway is a huge tourism drawcard for the region and full time and casual
workers rely on it for their livelihood.
The
union representing these workers has been given no information about why the
State Government thinks the whole railway suddenly needs to be shut down.
Consulting
with workers may have come up with alternative solutions rather that shutting
down the whole railway for an unknown period of time.
The
state government now has to provide detail about what support is to be
provided to the workers and to the West Coast community.
How
will the government ensure that the workers, including casual employees, aren’t
left worse off by the shutdown?
Instead of just throwing money at the problem, the state government needs to provide detail about how its package will incentivise visitation and support workers now that this major tourism attraction is out of action for an indeterminate period of time.
Rebecca White
MP
Labor Leader
