David Bradbury (Lindsay, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to highlight the achievements of the local operations of CNH Australia, based in St Marys in my electorate. I recently had the pleasure of attending the official opening of CNH Australia’s new St Marys warehouse extensions and training facilities. The St Marys operations are part of CNH’s global agriculture division and employ more than 180 full-time staff with extra casual staff during peak times. The creation of their new state-of-the-art training facility will benefit domestic and international customers, allowing CNH to support and train them on current and future products. The expansion of this facility has been made possible due to the company’s growth here in Australia and the dedication of a number of people at different levels within the company.

Before CNH committed to the expansion of their current site, they reviewed their presence in Western Sydney and compared their current location with other industrial areas in New South Wales and other states. They concluded that St Marys continued to be the best location for them, with access to major road and rail infrastructure and relatively close proximity to international airport facilities. I am proud to see that large multinational companies like CNH are investing not just in Australia but also in communities like mine in Western Sydney. CNH is making an enormous contribution to our local community by directly creating almost 200 local jobs, which in turn generates flow-on benefits to the local and regional economy.

This is a great example of why our region is an excellent place to invest. As one of the largest economies in Australia, Greater Western Sydney is increasingly a destination for many companies like CNH that want to tap into a hard-working and highly-skilled workforce and have easy access to major transport corridors. I thank CNH for their commitment to Western Sydney and I look forward to seeing their continued success in our region well into the future.

I also congratulate some of the people involved in the expansion project, including Dean Hopping, general manager of parts operations in Australia and New Zealand; Ray Osgood, vice president of parts sales and marketing for countries outside North America and Europe; Robert Quinn, general manager of parts sales and marketing; and Ian Fisher, financial controller. I make special mention of all of the staff at CNH St Marys, including Dave Jones, the warehouse manager, and his team whose dedication to the company made sure that the warehouse continued to operate during the expansion. Despite the disruptions to their workspace during the extensions, the CNH St Marys operations were not only able to continue to supply customers with parts but they also reduced the turnaround time between when an order comes into the warehouse and when it gets to the customer. Congratulations again to the team at CNH on the opening of their new warehouse extensions and training facilities and for their ongoing commitment to the St Marys community and the broader Western Sydney region.