PAYROLL tax incentives passed by the NSW Parliament last night will make Electrolux workers facing redundancy more attractive to hire but they are acutely aware it is but one measure of many that may help them find a new job.
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Workers at the factory yesterday welcomed the extension of a rebate scheme that could be worth as much as $6000 over two years to employers, but for many the search for jobs was focused also on training to qualify for vacancies expected in the workforce.
The Baird government is promoting the legislation as the work of a government well aware that the community will be “devastated” by the plant’s closure. Its response has been to extend the scheme but tailor it specifically for Electrolux workers employed in Orange.
MP Andrew Gee has claimed credit for drafting the payroll amendment in such a way that it could be adopted without blowing a massive hole in the state budget.
Labor’s shadow minister for regional infrastructure Mick Veitch says that is all well and good but the opportunity would have been missed if he had not alerted the Parliament to the fact that the existing scheme would expire before Electrolux closed, leaving workers out in the cold.
Credit then to both sides of politics, but the much bigger question which remains is what more the Baird and Abbott governments plan to do for 500 workers and this community?
Workers at the plant are embracing training opportunities through TAFE, including in health and aged care where we know there will be new jobs created in the next two years.
As welcome as the payroll tax amendment is, it is a very small concession for a “devastating” factory closure when compared to the hundreds of millions of dollars directed into the steel and automotive industries in other communities.
The best news would be that this is the portent of far more government support.
