Ross Hart (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

With the 20th anniversary of the closing of Coats Paton, I reflect on the changing face of employment in northern Tasmania. At its peak, Coats Patons was the largest mill of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. Over 2,000 people were employed at its site in the early 1970s. The loss of this icon was felt deeply, not just as an economic impact but also as a very real loss of history. The transition from this manufacturing past to a knowledge and skill based workforce was painful, and the scars still show. Launceston lost its textile mills, railway workshops and thousands of skilled jobs, but, starting in the early 1990s, Launceston took stock and changed focus. There was redevelopment of the railyard site and diversification of its economy to tourism, health, education and new agricultural opportunities, particularly in viticulture and investment in irrigation.

Now we need to prepare our children for jobs that have not yet been imagined. That workforce must be flexible and skilled. It cannot happen without preparation and planning. I'm passionate about the work being done at UTAS and, particularly, the Australian Maritime College on energy production and high-end maritime technology research and engineering. The Northern Tasmanian Development Corporation states that the most important investment regional communities can make is in education. That is why the UTAS relocation investment is vital for building the bedrock of our children's educational future and providing secure full-time, higher paid employment.

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