BY MICHAEL COOK and JESSICA ROUSE

The state’s new regional rail fleet may not be built by manufacturing companies in the Hunter, following the Berejiklian Government’s failure to commit to a local build.

The regional fleet manufacturing would involve renewing the aging Xplorer and Endeavour fleets as well as the XPT. The Australian Manufacturing Union (AMU) believes it would be an important opportunity to invest in the state’s heavy manufacturing industries and particularly in Newcastle.

Union Secretary Tim Ayres is disappointed the government’s failed on their promise to build trains in regional NSW yet again.

“Well this is another jobs disaster for NSW, the liberal government wants to send blue collar jobs offshore which is another multi-million dollar rail contract with no commitment for local jobs. Over the course of the last two years, the NSW government has sent $4 billion worth of train jobs offshore.”

Putting the contract to Hunter manufacturers would be an opportunity to reverse the trend of lost jobs in manufacturing since 2011 and turn it around according to the AMU.

“The government’s been out there telling anybody who’ll listen that they’re going to deliver this project inside NSW and have failed on that commitment. The story that the government is telling today is that they’re going to build a maintenance facility in Dubbo is just another in a long line of broken promises and distortions of what it’s really going to take to rebuild train manufacturing in NSW,” said Tim Ayres.

The government has announced they’ll build a maintenance facility in Dubbo, but the union wants more assurances jobs still won’t be taken offshore.

“These tenders have not been let there is still plenty of time for the NSW government to make it clear to local industry that these tenders should be done on the basis of a Newcastle build and a regional maintenance centre so there’s still plenty of time for the government to do the right thing here but yesterday’s announcement was a very disappointing and it shows that they’ve just gone back to their bad old ways,” said Tim Ayres.