Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks could be cancelled amid train dispute

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Sydney’s world-famous New Year’s Eve fireworks could be cancelled if the NSW Police Commissioner thought rail worker industrial action would endanger the public.

Transcript

00:00It's a show watched around the world, but now Sydney's New Year's fireworks may not

00:09go ahead.

00:10I have ruled out that I will recommend to government that we cancel the fireworks.

00:15Workers from the rail, tram and bus union and other groups are striking, demanding better

00:20pay and conditions.

00:22It's already affecting services throughout the state and could continue, notably, on

00:27New Year's Eve.

00:29When it's time to go and the fireworks are over, the job is to get them out safely and

00:33quickly and if there's no transport, then we can't do that and then I can't guarantee

00:38safety.

00:39It can't be in a situation where millions of families or 1.5 million people usually gather

00:45on the harbour forecourt on New Year's Eve where they're stranded and can't get home.

00:51The union says those statements are scaremongering, now saying its industrial action will have

00:56little effect on New Year's trains, walking back from a claim there would be a 50% reduction

01:01in services.

01:03If our actions would result in any form of safety risk, I can give an undertaking here

01:08and today that we would not take that action.

01:11The Police Commissioner's intervention helps the state government.

01:14It's about to stand up in the Fair Work Commission early next week and argue strikes can't go

01:19ahead on economic grounds.

01:21The threat of no fireworks on New Year's Eve plays into that.

01:24It has gotten so bad that the government has resorted to having honest, hardworking

01:32public servants come out and tell FIBs about the effect of our action.

01:37Political fireworks putting the real thing at risk.

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