The State Government's decision to shut down the West Coast Wilderness Railway is very disappointing and a huge blow to the region and the workers employed by the railway.
The workers and the West Coast community have been left completely in the dark over the decision.
There has been no consultation with either of these critical stakeholder groups which is extremely poor.
The railway is a huge tourism drawcard for the region and full time and casual workers rely on it for their livelihood.
The union representing these workers has been given no information about why the State Government thinks the whole railway suddenly needs to be shut down.
Consulting with workers may have come up with alternative solutions rather that shutting down the whole railway for an unknown period of time.
The state government now has to provide detail about what support is to be provided to the workers and to the West Coast community.
How will the government ensure that the workers, including casual employees, aren't left worse off by the shutdown?
Instead of just throwing money at the problem, the state government needs to provide detail about how its package will incentivise visitation and support workers now that this major tourism attraction is out of action for an indeterminate period of time.
Rebecca White MP
Labor Leader
