The Hodgman Liberal Government is standing up for aquaculture and mining jobs in Tasmania.
Obviously the mining industry and the West Coast community was devastated by the tragic deaths of three miners in Queenstown and the subsequent suspension of mining at Mt Lyell.
In response, the Hodgman Liberal Government consulted with the local community through a West Coast Working Group and committed $2.47 million to a rescue package following the closure of the Mt Lyell mine last year.
The package has been rolled out and hundreds of locals are either working again or in training. We are bringing forward infrastructure spending, like the Murchison Highway upgrades, to stimulate the local economy and we are investing in the region’s other key strengths, such as tourism, with mountain bike tracks and walking tracks.
Overall, 1,800 new jobs have been created on the North-West and West Coast since the election, a record that Bryan Green could only dream of.
Tasmanians won’t forget it was Bryan Green who got booed off the stage at a mining rally in Burnie because he sold out to the Greens and did catastrophic damage to both the mining and forestry industries.
Unfortunately, Mr Green and Labor have failed to learn from this mistake. Labor has teamed up again with the Greens to attack the aquaculture industry, which supports hundreds, if not thousands of jobs on the North-West and West Coast.
Paul Harriss, Minister for Resources
