Vital hub hit by transport woes

By Emma Sun
THE manufacturing sector will suffer if the road conditions are not fixed soon, SEMMA’s Paul Dowling said.
He said manufacturing is the heart-throb of the south-east region, which contributes 43 percent of Victoria’s total output and 14 per cent of Australia’s total output.
“Manufacturing employs 70,000 people and it is very much dependent on transport,” Mr Dowling said.
“Manufacturing focuses on three things, better, faster and cheaper, but transport is worse, slower and more costly – a total contradiction.”
Dandenong is one of the biggest manufacturing regions, but is having trouble retaining staff due to transport difficulties.
Dandenong South is one of the trouble spots, which, he said, was virtually inaccessible to workers.
“Prolonged travel time attracts staff away from the area. It takes 45 minutes to travel along Abbotts Road, minimum. Would you work there? I wouldn’t. That’s what happens,” Mr Dowling said.
“It takes 80 minutes to get from parts of Berwick to parts of Dandenong, that’s just ludicrous.”
He said transport was a key part of manufacturing, and there needed to be immediate action to keep the sector alive.
“Plan, act, do, if you want us to survive. Now, it’s time to step up to the mark. It must be fixed, and it must be fixed quickly.”
Department of Transport’s Damien Ferrie said growing freight on rail was one of the key strategies that the department was working on.