MRT move on track

The Hodgman Liberal Government is absolutely committed to relocating Mineral Resources Tasmania (MRT) to Burnie to drive renewed growth in our mining industry.

The election result show there is overwhelming community support for our Plan, which is also strongly supported by the mining industry and Tasmanian Minerals and Energy Council.

As we made clear before the election, the move will be rolled out over our first term of Government, the core library functions will remain in Hobart and no employees of MRT will be forced to relocate, with staff and unions consulted throughout the transition.

Staff and unions have now been briefed on the implementation plan. As we’ve indicated previously, the move is on track to commence by the end of the year with 6 to 10 positions to be located in Burnie in the initial stage. These positions will include tenement inspectors, geologists and the tenement cadastral function along with an office of the Director of Mines.

The second stage will be completed by mid-next year and involve the relocation of further tenement inspectors, the royalty, audit, finance and client service functions along with senior management

With boots on the ground in Burnie, work will continue to ensure all non-core library related functions and staff of MRT are relocated to Burnie by the end of our first term.

Importantly, because we are taking our time and consulting fully throughout, MRT staff can continue to focus on the needs of the mining industry throughout this transition.
I have no doubt detractors of the move will try and talk down this policy, but the facts speak for themselves.

Burnie is the strategic hub for mining in Tasmania, with much of our mineral exports being through the Port of Burnie. Commodity prices are forecast to turn around by 2017 and we need to lay the groundwork now to ensure we are ready to capitalise on the turnaround.

We are already seeing a number of positive signs, including a new Bauxite mine at Bald Hill, a mining lease issued to Forward Mining for the proposed magnetite iron ore mine at Rogetta and Unity announcing $5 million in new exploration work.

We will not make the same mistake as Bryan Green, who failed to plan for the future and flatlined mineral exploration when the rest of the country increased.

The steps we are taking today are about securing the mining industry’s future. Mining is one of our cornerstone industries and under the Hodgman Liberal Government, we will not flinch in our support.
Paul Harriss, Minister for Resources