Labor’s candidate for the seat of Dubbo in next year’s NSW election, Stephen Lawrence, claimed late in the week that the Essential Energy board is close to making a decision on the proposed closure.

The warehouse in Dubbo, located in Hawthorn Street, is one of three across regional NSW that provide materials for repairs to Essential Energy infrastructure across the state.

“I am reliably informed that the board of Essential Energy is close to making a decision on the future of the warehouse, possibly as soon as next week,” Mr Lawrence said.

“The community can have little confidence in the company that has delivered worsening black out times and industrial carnage in terms of job losses.”

The warehouse workers play a vital role in ensuring that the materials needed for repairs across a large part of regional and remote NSW are dispatched to where they are needed, often urgently.

It services towns including Narromine, Warren, Nyngan, Cobar, Wilcannia, Broken Hill, Bourke, Coonamble, Walgett, Gilgandra, Bathurst, Oberon, Blayney, Molong, Orange, Tottenham, Lake Cargelligo, Condobolin, Cowra, Canowindra, Young, West Wyalong and Forbes.

“Following Country Labor’s exposure of the Essential Energy proposal to service repairs across the west of the state from Wagga and Grafton Troy Grant specifically denied any job losses would occur in Dubbo,” Mr Lawrence said,

“Indeed he was quoted that ‘no jobs would be lost’ and that the warehouse would stay open.

“Essential Energy’s spin doctors however talked ominously about the proposed ‘repurposing’ of the existing warehouse.

“I am now calling on Troy Grant to answer if he has made representations about the issue to Essential Energy, does he stand by his claim that no jobs would be lost, and can he assure the community across western NSW that a distribution warehouse will remain in Dubbo?”