Nation Building – Economic Stimulus Plan boosts employment in regional Australia

The Rocla factory in Grafton is feeling the positive flow-on effects of the Australian Government’s Economic Stimulus Plan.

Rocla has been able to retain all 60 staff employed at the factory as a direct result of the Plan after being tasked with producing 259,000 new concrete sleepers – a substantial portion of which are for the Cootamundra to Parkes track upgrade in New South Wales.

The factory is also producing 78,000 Dual Gauge sleepers for the Queensland Border – Acacia Ridge Track upgrade – another rail project being fast tracked under the Economic Stimulus Plan.

Rocla Sleepers Manager, Ric Lewtas, said the funding injection from the Australian Government will allow the Rocla factory to continue to operate at full capacity.

“Prior to the Government’s announcement, there was the real possibility that work would dry up in Grafton. As of March it’s been all systems go,” he said.

Mr Lewtas said the announcement of further projects will mean a boost to employment in Grafton.

“This is not only through Rocla’s Grafton operations, but also the trickle down employment effect for many of our suppliers. This sort of knock-on employment is vital in regional areas,” he said.

The Cootamundra to Parkes upgrade is one of 17 rail projects that have been fast tracked under the Nation Building – Economic Stimulus Plan, which saw the injection of $1.2 billion into the interstate freight rail network through the Australian Rail Track Corporation.

So far, 3,400 new concrete rail sleepers have been delivered from the Grafton factory to the work site near Parkes.

Overall, the project is expected to support more than 170 jobs and will result in better efficiency from the track as well as reduced transit times and greater capacity between Cootamundra and Parkes.

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