Friday, February 24, 2017 – Bendigo Weekly
news • 3
www.bendigoweekly.com.au
Crash raises closure call
POLITICIANS are pleading caution on calls to close down Essendon Airport in the wake of Tuesday’s fatal plane crash that killed five people. Air ambulance services from central Victoria land at the airport which is only 10 minutes from major critical care facilities including the Royal Children’s Hospital. The airport, which is about 15 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, has been operating since 1919. In that time, businesses and residents have built around the airfield
and the Tullamarine Freeway abuts its western boundary. Victorian premier Daniel Andrews told ABC Radio National the airport played a critical role for emergency services as a base for firefighting aircraft, the police air wing and Air Ambulance planes. He said it had a world class safety record, and about 6000 people were directly and indirectly employed by it. “There are some people who have wanted Essendon Airport to close for a very long time, and I don’t think
that’s going to happen,” Mr Andrews said. “But if we can make it safer we all stand ready to do that.” Federal infrastructure and transport minister Darren Chester said on ABC Radio Melbourne questions around Essendon Airport were valid but it was not helpful to speculate before the investigation finished. “It isn’t as straightforward as ‘should or shouldn’t it be there’, you need to understand the role of the Essendon airport,” Mr Chester said.
“When someone’s flying from rural or remote Victoria wanting to access some of the best surgeons, the best doctors in the world, being able to land within 10 kilometres from the CBD may be the difference between saving a life and losing a life. “I believe Essendon Airport has an important future in providing services not only that metropolitan Melbourne wants, but regional Victoria wants.” The Beechcraft Super King Air involved in Tuesday’s crash was owned
by Bendigo’s Chris Richards and Andrew Hoare through their MyJet aviation company. But it was unclear yesterday who the registered operator of the plane was on the day of the crash after a delay in the transfer paperwork between Bendigo-based MyJet, and Australian Corporate Jet Centres based at Essendon. On Tuesday, Mr Richards and Mr Hoare said in a statement their thoughts were with the families of those on board the aircraft.
Win for business as penalty rates cut
close call: Daniel and Stacey Aggett with new baby Octavia and delivery paramedic Kelli Jones. Photo: ANDREW PERRYMAN
Baby number eight could not wait NEWBORN Octavia Aggett was a surprise to her parents at the beginning as child number eight, and again as she was being born. Mum Stacey didn’t quite make it to Bendigo Hospital before the baby girl decided to join the world. Dad Daniel parked the family car at the entrance of the new Bendigo Hospital’s emergency department and that is as far as Ms Aggett made it. Paramedic Kelli Jones, on shift at the hospital and working at a nearby ambulance, thought she should investigate the urgent screams coming from the car from which a man
had just run into the department entrance. Ms Jones found Ms Aggett in advanced labour, trying to find position in the small vehicle and insisting she would not get out. The man was Mr Aggett, running to get help, but he returned to the car and was there six minutes later when a healthy four kilogram baby girl was born. “Thank God you were there, I wouldn’t have known what to do,” Ms Aggett told Ms Jones as the latter visited her in the maternity ward 24 hours after the birth. But she confessed later she had
been thinking during contractions what she needed to do if she was alone when she gave birth. Ms Jones said mother and baby had performed well under the circumstances and her own efforts were “all part of the service”. The paramedic came with some experience, having delivered a baby before. Mr Aggett said he was surprised he had remembered to put the car in park and the park brake on before running into the emergency department to get help. “I can’t remember ever running so fast before,” he said.
SUNDAY penalty rates for retail, hospitality and fast food workers will be slashed in the wake of yesterday’s historic Fair Work Commission ruling. The cuts will see penalty rates for full and part time fast food workers drop from 150 of their base rate to 125 per cent, while casual rates on a Sunday will drop from 175 per cent of the base rate to 150 per cent. Full time and part time hospitality workers will see Sunday rates reduced from 175 per cent to 150 per cent. Casual rates do not change. Sunday rates for full time and part time workers in the retail sector will drop from 200 per cent to 150 per cent, while casual penalty rates will drop from 200 per cent to 175 per cent, and on public holidays, full time and part time workers will see public holiday rates drop from 225 per cent to 200 per cent, while casual rates will not change. Business groups claim the move will allow many of their members to employ more staff, but there has been a strong backlash from unions and the welfare sector. National secretary of hospitality union United Voice, JoAnne Schofield, said the case had been very stressful for two million hospitality and retail workers and their families, and that the impact of the decision would extend beyond the hospitality and retail industries. “The Australian community overwhelmingly opposes cuts to weekend penalty rates,” she said. The St Vincent de Paul Society said it was deeply saddened
by the Fair Work Commission decision to undermine Sunday and public holiday penalty rates. The society’s national council CEO, Dr John Falzon, said it represented an attack on people who already struggle to survive and for whom penalty rates make an important difference from week to week. “Cutting penalty rates will not create jobs but it will build inequality,” he said. “This cut will disproportionately affect women, young people and people who already carry the burden of inequality. The rights of workers should take priority over the maximisation of profits.” The Australian Industry Group welcomed the decision to reset penalty rates in the fast food industry to align them with the characteristics and needs of 21st century workplaces. AI Group chief executive Innes Willox said the commission accepted AI Group’s evidence that young people often prefer to work in the evenings and on weekends, and that many prefer to work on Sundays rather than Saturdays. “In the fast food industry, weekends and evenings are peak times. Regular business hours have little relevance to businesses in the fast food industry and, therefore, penalty rates that were designed many decades ago around regular business hours need to be re-set,” Mr Willox said. “In the decision, the commission has recognised that existing Sunday penalty rates in the fast food industry are not fair for employers and no longer relevant.”
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