Communities in and around Bunbury and Collie are struggling with job losses in the coal mining and coal-fired power industries, with this set to get worse over time.
We are calling on the state and federal governments to fund the development of the South West Advanced Manufacturing Hub to service our local mining, energy and transport industries over the next 100 years.
A number of potential locations exist in and around the Picton Industrial Area, just outside of Bunbury, close to where the old Picton railyards used to be. Like the Midland workshops in Perth, the Picton railyards have provided high quality jobs and apprenticeships to generations of working Western Australians.
This region has road, rail and port access, making it perfectly situated to become a hub that services both local industry, as well as industry across the state and nation.
The Hub would provide common user infrastructure to support large and small manufacturers, as well as support collaboration and the development of new, high technology manufacturing supply chains. It would provide opportunities for research, as well as facilitating the involvement of local universities, TAFE colleges and schools. It would complement WA’s existing strategic industrial areas, including providing overflow productive capacity for when the Australian Marine Complex is fully utilised.
Perhaps, most importantly, the Hub would enable WA industry to produce the plant and equipment necessary to keep our essential industries operating and creating jobs during future possible crises, where our borders might be closed.
The benefits are obvious, the land is there and the planning is underway. All we need now is the political will and funding to bring this vision to reality and provide hope and opportunity for families across the South West.