Prime Minister Julia Gillard today met with BlueScope Steel workers, business leaders and union heads to discuss plans to keep the industrial Illawarra region strong and prosperous.
The Prime Minister spoke with workers at BlueScope Steel’s plant at Port Kembla, NSW, before hosting a business and union roundtable in Wollongong.
Discussions included the Federal Government’s assistance package as well as potential avenues for community collaboration to build sustainable future in manufacturing for the Illawarra region.
In attendance was Innovation Minister Kim Carr, Member for Cunningham Sharon Bird, Member for Throsby Stephen Jones, NSW Minister for the Illawarra Greg Pearce MLC, as well as local business owners, unions and key members of the Illawarra community.
A $30m Illawarra Region Innovation and Investment Fund was recently announced to stimulate investment and diversifying the regions’ economic and employment base. The fund is a joint initiative between the Federal and New South Wales Governments and mining giant BlueScope.
A Taskforce has also been set-up to inform the Government’s Working Group overseeing and co-ordinating the entire government support package The Taskforce made up of key local business, community and civic groups and representatives
The process has worked successfully in other regions around the country, Senator Carr’s office said in a statement.
“[M]ore than 2,500 jobs have been created through Innovation Funds in regions such as Adelaide and Geelong where major plants have closed,” the statement reads.