I recently visited PSA CPSU NSW members in Tamworth, an important centre for the people of northwestern NSW.

Jobs in the Public Sector and services such as TAFE, universities and disability support are vital to regional centres such as Tamworth. They bring much-needed income into local economies, provide job opportunities and ensure people outside the major centres have access to services.

In centres such as Tamworth, our members are providing services specific to regional NSW, such as the Rural Fire Service pictured below. Tamworth Correctional Centre provides northwestern NSW with a facility for inmates arrested and tried in the region.

The importance of these services highlights the lunacy of the large-scale job cuts planned to be meted out to our members in the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.

These jobs do more than just bring in wages that are vital to the economies of regional centres. Our members conduct research that is important for the future of our primary industries and our food security. As climate change affects NSW’s weather patterns, these essential roles become even more important.

As President, I also visited a number of schools in both regional and metropolitan NSW. Some of these visits were part of this year’s PSA Schools Recognition Week. While our union works hard for its members in schools all year, it is this week that we shout loud about these essential workers, who too often are missing from the narrative when our education system is discussed.

With job cuts haunting our universities, including those in the regions, it is important that the CPSU NSW fights for its members. Again, the work done in our tertiary education sector is important to ensure NSW has a prosperous future. Cutting jobs is short-sighted thinking that will have adverse effects on the future of our state. If there is insufficient income from overseas students, then governments, both state and federal, need to step in and make up the shortfall. Education is not an expense, it is an investment.

As President, meeting members is one of the best parts of my role. I will continue to travel and help celebrate the vital work you all do.