Local jobs for local communities
NSW manufacturing workers are some of the best in the world. For decades, workers in Sydney, the Hunter, the Illawarra and the regions built the public transport that keeps NSW running.
But after 12 years of privatisation and offshoring, many local communities are struggling. Manufacturing jobs have disappeared because the NSW Liberal-National government has bought trains, trams, buses and ferries from overseas instead of trusting in local workers to build them.
Bringing public transport manufacturing back to NSW will create local jobs, revitalise our historic manufacturing communities, and give hundreds of workers the good, long-term jobs they deserve.
We want the next NSW government to commit to designing, building, and maintaining our trains, trams, buses and ferries here in NSW.
Supporting local manufacturing
The NSW Liberal-National government said that buying public transport from overseas would save taxpayers money.
Instead, they sent billions of dollars and thousands of jobs offshore. We lost a generation of manufacturing workers, their skills, and their knowledge.
In return, we got trains that were too wide for the tracks, ferries that can't handle Sydney Harbour's swells, and trams riddled with cracks – all delivered past deadline and over budget.
If NSW's public transport was built here, by local workers who know our unique needs, we'd get better value for money, a higher-quality end product, and give our manufacturing workers the experience and knowhow they need to keep the state's public transport running for decades to come.
We want the next NSW government to support procurement policies that mandate the use of local content on government transport contracts, with preference given to local manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers.
Safety and reliability of services
The safety and reliability of NSW public transport has been compromised by the State Government’s reliance on overseas-built trains, trams, buses and ferries.
The history of overseas-built public transport in NSW has been littered with close blow-outs, delays, and defects.
From trains that don’t fit through tunnels, trains with windscreens that turn milky when facing the sun, trains that can’t see passengers who fall between the platform, trams that are prone to cracking, to ferries that don’t fit under bridges and can't handle Sydney Harbour swells – it’s been one debacle after another.
What's more, the people who work on and travel on public transport have been locked out of the design process.
Governments that source trains from overseas suppliers not only sacrifice local jobs, they potentially put lives at risk through lower safety standards.
We want the next NSW Government to make safety and reliability a priority in the procurement of new public transport, and consult with end users through every step of the process.
Rebuilding our TAFE
Over the last 12 years, the NSW Liberal-National government has cut hundreds of millions of dollars from TAFE, and sacked hundreds of TAFE educators.
It's left hundreds of thousands of young people with fewer job opportunities, and starved NSW of the next generation of manufacturing workers we need to keep this state going.
We can't have a manufacturing sector unless we have a well-funded TAFE that teaches the skills and knowledge our workers need to succeed.
We want the next NSW government to rebuild the TAFE system and establish TAFE Manufacturing Centres of Excellence to ensure we have a skilled manufacturing workforce.