5 JUNE 2020
ISSUE 245
REAL INDEPENDENT LOCAL WEEKLY NEWS
News
Central Coast commuters could shave 15 minutes off their trip to Sydney by avoiding multiple sets of traffic lights, once NorthConnex opens in a few months’ time. See page 3
News
Upper House blocks bill to freeze nurses’ wages Member for Gosford, Liesl Tesch, has hailed the blocking of the State Government’s plan to freeze the wages of public sector workers as a “win for compassion and good sense”.
The Upper House blocked the move on Tuesday evening, June 2, with the matter set to go to the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) on June 4. The move follows widespread public protests, with Central
Coast health workers rallying as late as Tuesday morning in the rain outside Gosford Hospital, ahead of the Upper House vote. Branch Secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives
Association (NSWNMA), Meg Pendrick, said at the rally that if the 2.5% wage increase due on July 1 was rescinded, members feared the freeze could last as long as four years.
Councillors will be asked to endorse a multi-storey carpark at Central Coast Stadium as the preferred solution to Gosford’s parking woes and progress it to the design stage at the next Council meeting on June 9. See page 7
“COVID-19 is not over yet and our expected 2.5% increase would only bring us more in line with cost of living rises,” Pendrick said. Continued page 6
A project that artist, Pete Rush, of Wamberal started “just for fun” has brought joy to countless residents and visitors during the recent period of social isolation.
APL England clean-up continues The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has laid charges against the Master of the APL England cargo ship which lost about 50 shipping containers overboard in rough seas early last week, causing debris and damaged shipping containers to be strewn
Out&About
along Central shorelines.
See page 17
Business
Coast
Five containers washed up at Birdie Beach last week while another five containers crashed onto rocks at Bateau Bay, with others floating off Norah Head and Terrigal and in the Hawkesbury River. Continued page 4
Working from home could become the new norm, even after the coronavirus threat is behind us, according to the NBN Australian Covid-19 Behavioural Change Survey. See page 25
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