ANOTHER MANUFACTURER GOES TO THE WALL UNDER LABOR
30-June-2011
Poppets school wear factory at Fairy Meadow in the Illawarra went into administration yesterday.
According to owner Elizabeth Kingston, tough trading conditions and cheap imports from China flooding the Australian market sounded the death knell for the company.
The Illawarra is now virtually a barren landscape when it comes to textile manufacturing, and has a rapidly shrinking manufacturing sector generally under the Gillard Government - a trend clearly visible throughout Australia.
Under Labor lost manufacturing jobs have hit a new record high of 105,000 since the start of 2008, which exceeds the number of people who fill the MCG on AFL Grand Final day.
As per usual, the local Labor member Sharon Bird remains arrogantly silent on the manufacturing crisis surrounding her.
Ms Bird’s chilling indifference provides no comfort to the 24 workers who lost their jobs yesterday, and the 126 workers who lost their jobs from when the factory was at its peak.
The Labor Party has turned its back on Australian manufacturing and generations of Labor-voting workers.
Dumping of cheap goods on the Australian retail market is a major problem for Australian manufacturers.
After three years of fumbling on anti-dumping, the Gillard Government recently announced some reforms which amount to no more than tinkering around the edges. Unfortunately, the most crucial challenges for policymakers have again been left untouched.
The Coalition calls on Labor MPs to stand up for manufacturing business, and stand up for workers.