Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome this opportunity to update the House on the progress of the University of Tasmania's new Burnie campus, which is on track to be completed mid next year. As a proud north-west-coaster, it is tremendous that the Burnie region is the first to benefit from the Northern Transformation program, which will have long-lasting positive outcomes.

What we're building here is a world-class teaching and research facility. The north-west, west coast and King Island is a unique area, and I welcome UTAS's commitment to focusing on leveraging off the many strengths of our region. The commitment is to ensure that courses offered meet the specific needs of our local community, align with our future workforce needs and continue to attract students from across Australia and the world. I acknowledge Mayor Steve Kons and the Burnie council for driving the vision and providing the land to enable this high-profile project to proceed, which is currently supporting over 100 jobs.

Congratulations to Fairbrother construction, general manager Kurt Arnold and his great local construction team, who are overseeing the innovative landmark development. He's got young Tasmanian tradespeople literally building their own future. The greater Burnie region has everything a young person heading off to university is looking for, so put UTAS Burnie campus on your list of future options.