IT HAS been labelled the biggest community petition from the Illawarra to land on the steps of NSW Parliament.
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And, land it did – in style – on Thursday morning.
This wasn’t your typical petition hand over. This was a gold box – made from BlueScope steel – with more than 15,000 signatures in support of saving the Port Kembla steelworks inside.
Heathcote MP Lee Evans, Member for Keira Ryan Park, Shellharbour MP Anna Watson and Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward took receipt of the unusual delivery at 9.30am.
Member for Wollongong Noreen Hay, who is currently on approved leave, was represented by a member of her staff, Susan Greenhalgh.
When the box opened to reveal four jam-packed lever arch folders, the region’s parliamentary representatives were taken aback.
“Fantastic” was the political phrase of the moment when Ian Waters, one of the petition organisers, revealed it contained 15,300 signatures. “We were really pleased with the reaction,” Mr Waters, from Unanderra-based K&R Fabrications, said.
“The next step is the debate, which we’ll be taking a great interest in .. and hopefully that debate ends up getting a result for the people of the Illawarra.”
Mr Waters was joined in Sydney by Lorraine Dallimore from Montague Smash Repairs at Warilla, John Doyle from K&R Fabrications, Tammy Czyz representing BlueScope and former BlueScope employee Bill Wilkins.
Ex-Bluescope worker and the first female steelmaking melter in the southern hemisphere, Christine Wilkins, was also present.
“We can't lose the steelworks; the future of Wollongong depends on the steelworks,” Mrs Wilkins said
"You've only got to look what happened to Detroit when they lost their car industry and Detroit is in very bad shape now. I don't want to see that happen to Wollongong.”
Mr Wilkins said it was gratifying to see the amount of people who had “gone out of their way to physically sign a petition”.
"This wasn't some online thing ... so to get 15,000 hard copies like that it's just an indication of what a big groundswell there is to preserve the future of what is Australia's largest manufacturing site and has great national significance to the economy,” he said.