Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester has welcomed a jobs guarantee provided to Latrobe Valley based Australian Securities Investment Commission (ASIC) business registry staff.
Following concerns about the future for business registry staff currently employed at the Traralgon office, Mr Chester wrote to the Labor Government seeking support for local jobs.
He has received a written response from the Assistant Treasurer, Stephen Jones, which indicates there are no plans to move the business registry from the Latrobe Valley.
“I can confirm that the Government is committed to maintaining a continued presence in the Latrobe Valley and that there will be no job losses for staff currently performing the registry function (including those at the existing Traralgon office) as a result of the government’s decision to stop the Modernising Business Registers program,” Mr Jones wrote.
Mr Chester said he would continue to monitor the situation and hold the government to account on its promise.
“We have had 30 years of the ASIC’s staff living and working in our region and it is an important part of the Latrobe Valley economy,” Mr Chester said.
“Decentralising public service jobs to regional areas has been proven to provide the Commonwealth with a reliable and skilled workforce and obviously benefits the Latrobe Valley at a time when we are losing jobs due to State Government decisions in the timber and energy sectors. It is critical that we hold on to jobs like these.”