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$60 million for public housing
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By KATE WITHERS
Crossing call
Parents of Kosciuszko Street Primary School students have called on Latrobe City Council for safety upgrades to the Catterick Crescent crossing. FULL STORY - PAGE 5
REVIEW PUSH
THE family of a worker who died at Yallourn Power Station two years ago is pushing for an independent review of WorkSafe’s decision not to prosecute the operator over the incident. WorkSafe Victoria is not laying charges against EnergyAustralia after it investigated the death of Yallourn unit controller Graeme Edwards who died of burn injuries in November 2018. An internal investigation by EnergyAustralia found it was at fault while Mr Edwards was reinstalling a high-voltage circuit breaker on Unit 3.
Mr Edwards’ family stated they were “outraged and astonished” by WorkSafe’s resolution after what was a “very easily avoidable workplace incident” at Yallourn. Both Mr Edwards’ family and the CFMMEU have requested the Department of Public Prosecution conduct an independent review. The unions and the family are also calling on the Workplace Safety Minister Ingrid Stitt to “make serious enquiries” into the decision. “The explanation from WorkSafe to us as to why they will not be pressing any
charges in relation to Graeme’s death is, in our opinion, outrageous and entirely unacceptable,” the family said. “We view this as a failing on WorkSafe’s part to perform the role that they are obligated to for all Victorians. “This decision shows that WorkSafe will not defend the right of all Victorian workers to return home safely from their jobs each day.” Mr Edwards died the day after he performed a routine racking procedure as the unit was coming back online following a major outage. EnergyAustralia found that an arc
flash had occurred due to an improperly secured barrier that should have protected him from the high-voltage circuit breaker. The company installed $6 million worth of electrical safety upgrades at Yallourn last year as a result of the workplace incident. CFMMEU mining and energy district branch secretary Geoff Dyke told The Express he hoped the DPP would “take a more serious look” into the incident. Continued on page 9
CLEANING UP THE MESS AFTER WINDSTORM LASHES VALLEY - PAGE 3
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By MICHELLE SLATER
AT least $60 million will be allocated to Latrobe City for public and community housing as part of the state government’s historic Big Housing Build. Unveiled on Sunday, the $5.3 billion investment - the largest ever in Australia - will be used to build 12,000 new homes throughout Victoria, with 25 per cent of funding allocated to regional Victoria. The Big Housing Build will deliver 9300 social housing homes for Aboriginal people, pensioners, those with a disability, family violence victims and single-parent families. A further 2900 affordable lowcost homes will be built to help low-moderate income earners. Earlier this year the Gippsland Homelessness Network made a submission to the Inquiry Into Homelessness In Victoria detailing issues unique the region after holding consultation sessions with the community. The submission included analysis of the DHHS Private Rental Report which showed there were just 38 one-bedroom private rental properties categorised as affordable in Gippsland - 34 of them in Latrobe City. It also warned homelessness in Gippsland was “becoming more visible” and pointed to “a lack of supply of affordable, accessible housing for people on low incomes”. The region was also said to have a large population of people known as rough sleepers at 10.3 per cent, compared to the Victorian average of 7.2 per cent. Labor Member for Eastern Victoria Harriet Shing said it was estimated the Big Housing Build will create 10,000 jobs per year over four years. “Everyone deserves a safe and secure place to call home - this unprecedented funding will deliver exactly that, along with thousands of jobs,” Ms Shing said. “This record investment in social and community housing will make the world of difference to people and families across our ... communities.” Building of the new homes will “begin over the next four years”, the state government said. A new agency, Homes Victoria, has been established to work across government, industry and the social housing sector to deliver the project.