MP takes up BoM job losses with PM

FEBRUARY 9, 2016: THE loss of on-ground Bureau of Meteorology staff in Mackay and Townsville was raised directly with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Canberra this morning.It was announced on Friday that bureau staff in both Mackay and Townsville would need to relocate after weather stations switch to fully automated systems between now and 2017.I was informed this morning that this decision to take away all of our on-ground weather monitoring staff from Mackay and Townsville, as well as other centres, was made by the management of the Bureau of Meteorology, rather than Environment Minister Greg Hunt’s office.Regardless of who made the decision, I am seeking to have it reversed.I have written to Minister Greg Hunt regarding this, and will continue to push for on-ground services to be retained in Mackay and Townsville.For a region like ours, which faces extreme weather events like cyclones on a far too regular basis, it seems reckless and potentially dangerous to have no people on the ground anywhere between Brisbane and Cairns, and that is the situation the Bureau of Meteorology’s management is shooting for.Nationals Senator Matt Canavan, who is based in Rockhampton, also raised concerns regarding fully automated systems with Bureau of Meteorology CEO Dr Rob Vertessy during Senate Estimates yesterday. The aim should be to create jobs, not cut them.This is also a retrograde step in terms of retaining government jobs in Northern Australia.The Federal Liberal National Government gave an undertaking to shift government departments and public servants into Northern Australia, not to cut them, at the last election, and this comes at a time when the employment situation, should bureau staff want to continue to live in Mackay or Townsville, is dire.