Member for Eastern Victoria Region Melina Bath is pleased that pressure from the community and the Victorian Opposition has forced the Government to back pedal and extend the Back to Work Scheme.
Ms Bath said her Nationals colleague Russell Northe had advocated strongly in the Parliament to have the scheme extended post the 30 June 2017 deadline.
“Last week in Parliament, Russell called on the Treasurer to support unemployed persons and retrenched Hazelwood workers by extending the scheme from 30 June 2017 to 30 June 2018,” Ms Bath said.
“The Government originally stated that the scheme would only remain open for unemployed people living in the Latrobe Valley and retrenched workers from the Hazelwood Power Station until 30 June 2017.”
Ms Bath said the Labor Government has now back pedalled and committed to have the scheme remain open for another year.
“This is of some assistance for Latrobe Valley workers and it is about time the Andrews Government showed some support for this community,” Ms Bath said.
“The timeframe needed to be extended to allow extra time for Hazelwood workers who might not have been able to seek employment and also to include Carter Holt Harvey employees who are about to lose their jobs.”
“With the Latrobe Valley in the midst of jobs crisis, now is the time for the Andrews Labor Government to support Latrobe Valley workers.”
