By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Curbing high energy prices is in the sights of the South East’s peak manufacturers body.
Adrian Boden, executive director of South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance, told SEMMA’s AGM at the Australian Synchrotron on 31 July that “nothing has really changed” on energy costs.
“It remains one of the key areas where every single person in the country is affected.
“We have no solution presented by our politicians as such.”
He told an audience of 250, including state and federal MPs, that a reasonable energy price ought to be a “bipartisan” issue.
A local collective agreement on electricity had cut costs down by 30 per cent, but they had still doubled in the past several years.
SEMMA’s wishlist included the urgent rollout of the National Broadband Network, skills education and enforcing local-content rules for government projects.
He said more should be done to ensure external contractors meet the local-content benchmark – so “what is promised is what is delivered”.
Mr Boden praised the imminent removal of Abbotts Road level crossing in Dandenong South’s industrial zone.
“It will relieve a huge amount of traffic travel time at that particular crossing.”
He reminded the crowd that manufacturing directly employed 100,000 across Australia.
