Senator Carol Brown Shadow Assistant Minister For Infrastructure And Regional Tourism, Shadow Assistant Minister For Tasmania, Senator For Tasmania & Senator Helen Polley, Senator For Tasmania & Ross Hart, Labor Candidate For Bass

Morrison Liberal Government Undermines Australian Maritime College Leading To Redundancies

  • The Australian Maritime College (AMC) in Launceston is making senior academic staff redundant, after the Morrison Liberal Government’s continued attacks.
  • Since 1992 the College has been the peak training body for thousands of Navy personnel and Pacific Island operators.
  • In March the Morrison Government handed a $36 million contract to TAFE Queensland undermining the stability and work of the AMC in Launceston.

“The University of Tasmania (Utas) has made a decision to make four academics at the AMC redundant. This comes 3 months after the Morrison Liberal Government backed jobs in Cairns over jobs in Launceston with a $36 million contract,” Senator Brown said.

In 2017 the Federal Liberal Government initially undermined the AMC with the announcement of the building of another maritime facility in South Australia.

“The continued actions of the Morrison Government is having consequences for the lives of these workers, maritime training and the northern economy. The AMC is without question the peak national training facility and it has been consistently undermined by the Morrison Government. Now the chickens are coming home to roost,” Senator Polley said.

“The real concern here is the future of the AMC in Tasmania and what that looks like. Senior academics are losing their jobs, other staff at the AMC are concerned for their future. These cuts have real consequences, the loss of experience, research acumen and knowledge amongst these staff will hurt the reputation of the AMC. That is deeply disappointing,” Ross Hart said.

“The Morrison Government has been wooing voters in Queensland over Tasmania for years. The question is what has Bridget Archer been doing about this? She is failing academics at the AMC, the efficacy of the AMC in Tasmania and the Northern economy,” Senator Polley said.

Labor has been advocating for the interests of the AMC and we warned the Morrison Government of their continued undermining of the institution.

Bridget Archer needs to start doing what she is supposed to be doing. Fighting for the interests of Northern Tasmanians. Job losses at the AMC and the loss of senior and talented academics isn’t good for our community, the future of the AMC or our local economy.