Warrant offenders nabbed

By Jo Kennett

POLICE HAVE arrested three men wanted on outstanding warrants including two prior offenders who breached their parole conditions in a sting operation on Friday, February 10.

Tweed Police said that Operation Coast Safe was a “high visibility operation around public places with specific taskings.”

A 44-year-old Tweed Heads man was arrested and taken to Tweed Heads Police Station where he was refused bail.

The other two men had ‘return to prison’ warrants and were taken into custody on the same day.

A ‘return to prison’ warrant is taken out when a previous offender breaches a parole condition such as failing to report to a parole officer or returning a positive urine test.

Tweed Police wanted to thank the community for their “continued support to report suspicious and unacceptable behaviour to their local police or Crime Stoppers”.

To speak with a Crime Stoppers representative please phone: 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page: nsw. crimestoppers.com.au.

By Yvonne Gardiner

LOW UNEMPLOYMENT figures and skills shortages are putting Tweed business owners and other employers in a difficult position.

Some have been forced to close their businesses or limit their hours and areas of operation.

State government policies play a big role in providing job-ready workers, in affordable training and improving conditions of employment.

Employers can more easily attract workers by offering secure work, fair wages and satisfactory conditions.

The Weekly sought answers from Tweed and Lismore candidates in the upcoming NSW election on the issue of skills shortages and lack of workers.

TWEED Susie Hearder (Animal Justice Party)

We need fairness and equality in jobs where workers have fulfilling, ethical, safe and well-paid employment, and whistleblowers have genuine protection. The Animal Justice Party will help farmers to transition away from intensive animal agriculture into cruelty-free and environmentally sound farming practices.

We will encourage investment in sustainable growth industries like thriving plant-based foods which do not harm animals or the planet.

TAFE has been gutted under the LNP government and needs reinvigorating as a prominent provider of tertiary education with greater funding and courses reinstated. Young people need the education and skills to enter the workforce in regional areas. TAFE training should be free for any skills shortage courses, training in the renewable energy sector and natural resource management skills.

There is also a shortage of wildlife carers and this not-for-profit sector needs funding too.

The Animal Justice Party will introduce ‘Veticare’ (Medicare for animals) which will skill up vet nurses, support vets in regional areas and ensure retention of vets and vet nurses, helping wildlife and the vulnerable to keep their pets.

Frontline workers in aged care, disability support services and hospitals need an increase in staff to patient ratios and a decent wage for the important work they do.

Seasonal farm workers need fair pay, clean accommodation and safe working conditions.

We need to end native forest logging and help transition workers to plantations or the hemp industry. We need more police to ensure safer communities and police who are skilled to deal with domestic violence, sexual abuse, animal abuse, homelessness and mental health.

The flood has exacerbated the shortage of qualified trades workers who need free training, secure employment and better conditions. It needs to be financially affordable for people wishing to undertake training to upskill or change vocations and all workers need access to affordable housing.

Craig Elliot (Labor)

The Tweed needs a Minns Labor Government to fix the skills crisis we have right throughout our region. Across so many industries, there are massive skills shortages and a lack of workers.

Every day, I hear about businesses who just can’t find staff or from locals who can’t get goods and services because of the skills shortage.

We’re in this situation because Geoff Provest (Tweed MP) and his boss Dom Perrottet have cut TAFE training and apprenticeships. They’ve also slashed services and privatised public assets which has resulted in skyrocketing energy prices, inflation, and a critical shortage of skilled workers. Geoff Provest and his government’s harsh action to cap public sector wages for the past 10 years, combined with inflation, has led to real wages falling, making it challenging for the Tweed to attract and retain the skilled workforce we require.

This has resulted in a shortage of essential frontline services including nurses, health workers, ambos, teachers, police, professional firefighters, youth justice officers and community safety staff.

The Tweed can no longer ignore how tired and out of touch Mr Provest has become. His unfair wage cap will continue to drive local workers interstate where they are being offered higher pay and better working conditions for doing the same job.

We need these valuable workers to stay in the Tweed and a Minns Labor Government will deliver better wages and conditions to do this. The fact is, the Nationals don’t invest in education and training and that’s obvious with their cruel closure of the Murwillumbah TAFE and four local functioning schools. In contrast, Labor will build a high school at Pottsville, convert 10,000 casual teachers to permanent positions, fund an additional 600 professional firefighters, employ an extra 500 paramedics for regional communities, recruit a further 1200 nurses and midwives and enforce minimum safe staffing levels in public hospitals.

Geoff

Provest (Nationals)

There is no doubt the Tweed needs more workers to fill the demand in most sectors, and the Liberal/Nationals government has already implemented and agreed to a range of initiatives to address skills shortages and employment issues in the Tweed.

There will be amazing new training opportunities at the Tweed Valley Hospital in partnership with Kingscliff TAFE, with the development of an integrated training program to enable students and clinicians to improve and develop their skills.

I have secured more than $30 million for a huge expansion of Kingscliff TAFE, so more locals can train for great jobs without leaving the Tweed. I was there last week to tell apprentices that this month they will become eligible for the same $250-a-year fuel card that is available for Tweed pensioners.

We are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade Tweed schools including a new trade school at Tweed River High, one of the first of its kind in the state, to help students be employment-ready when they leave school.

Ciara Denham (Greens)

We are all feeling the pinch of the increases in cost of living. Day-to- day living is getting more expensive. Workers’ pay and conditions have gone backwards.

Meanwhile billionaires and big corporations reap record profits. Our public sector workers — including nurses, midwives, health workers, paramedics, teachers, university staff, and transport and frontline workers — have been on the frontline of crisis after crisis, working tirelessly to keep us safe.

Many workers in Tweed have insecure and irregular work, with no rights to industry award wages, secure jobs and decent conditions. They are marginalised and deserve fair wages and rights.

All workers, including migrant and temporary workers, must have the same workplace rights as other workers.

The Greens are committed to abolishing the public sector wage cap and delivering real wage increases as well as increased resourcing for frontline community, health and transport workers. Other commitments are nurse-to-patient ratios, and increased staffing and resourcing in our schools. Increasing job security and conditions for gig workers, artists, labour hire workers and casuals to ensure the same minimum pay, conditions and protections as other employees, including the right to be represented by a union. Sector-wide bargaining across entire industries rather than restricted to single enterprises, portable leave, reforming the Industrial Relations Commission to ensure it is an independent and neutral body — and not doing the bidding of conservative governments.