By CASEY NEILL
TRAINS, trams, buses and trucks will stop traffic in central Dandenong next month.
Committee for Dandenong member Jill Walsh last week announced the Dandenong on Wheels demonstration would descend on Dandenong Civic Square on Friday 17 April.
She’s invited Premier Daniel Andrews to check out the Dandenong-made vehicles, which will stay put throughout the day.
“We’re going to mass these vehicles. They’re going to be shiny and big,” Ms Walsh said.
“We want to stand up and say ‘manufacturing is alive and well in Dandenong’.
“We build bloody great things in Dandenong.”
The advocacy group joined with South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance (SEMMA) and City of Greater Dandenong to organise the event.
“We’ll put the train in Walker Street,” she said.
“On Thomas Street, the tram will be indented in that little car space.
“I think it’s time we all stood up for manufacturing in this town, stopped talking it down.
“There’s so much going in Geelong. They’re losing half the people we are from the auto supply chain.
“But nobody’s talking about Dandenong, nobody’s talking about the jobs.
“I thought ‘it’s time to make a statement’.
“People need to see up close and personal what we build on wheels in Dandenong.”
Ms Walsh said organisers would bus in workers, Chisholm Institute students and school children.
“We want the students to see also that they have a future in manufacturing and what a spectrum of jobs are available,” she said.
She’ll have signage on a VLocity diesel train to highlight its 78 per cent local content, and said it was the most reliable rail vehicle in the world.
“When it’s built and designed for our conditions, that’s where the real success lies,” she said.
“I wanted the governments to look at when they say best value for the taxpayers dollar, what are they really meaning?”
Premier Daniel Andrews announced during last year’s election campaign that the State Government would buy 20 new VLocity carriages from Dandenong manufacturer Bombardier.
“We need another order for trams, but they’re reluctant to commit to,” Ms Walsh said.
“They need to. It’s not like they’re not needed.”
She linked the situation to recent debate about whether new Australian Navy submarines would be built in Australia.
“We need to stand up and say ‘we’re not copping this’,” she said.
“We can deliver great products.
“If we need to build a submarine then we can damn well build a submarine.”
“I think the people in Melbourne and Victoria need to understand that we do build things here.”
