‘BUY LOCAL’ CAMPAIGN BLOWN OUT OF WATER BY SHIP REFURBISHMENT

The Liberals’ ‘buy local’ campaign has once again been blown out of the water with claims that a significant number of workers employed on the Spirit of Tasmania refurbishment have been sourced from overseas.

Last month Adam Brooks claimed that jobs were the Hodgman Liberal government’s number 1 priority, and that this project was a major part of seeing that promise through.

After failing to deliver, again, we now see Minister Hidding running the line that questioning the percentage of foreign workers employed on the project is ‘xenophobic’.

Is this a line we are expected to be hearing more frequently, with the loosening of labour laws under international trade agreements currently being negotiated under a veil of secrecy by the Federal Liberal government?

It is well known that Tasmanians are underemployed and the Spirit refurbishment agreement clearly stated that 50% of work had to be carried out by Tasmanians.

Even if that that requirement has been met, sticking to a minimum number of local contractors and employees is not the way to deliver on a promise of jobs growth for the State.

We need to ensure that the contract is not broken, that Tasmanians are being given first priority where possible, and that conversations around nationality of outsourced labour do not degenerate into name calling without sincere investigation into the claims.
Andrea Dawkins MP | Greens infrastructure and small business spokesperson