Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

The invisible line marked by James Boag Brewery and Cascade Brewery has divided the north and south of Tasmania for well over 150 years, but I can assure you it is fading. It's fading because Boag's brewery is making a choice between having jobs in Tasmania and taking its production elsewhere. Tasmanians love their Boag's, and I expect Boag's loves Tasmania.

Last year, the Tasmanian government—in good faith, mind you—gave Boag's $1 million to continue its tour operations. The bailout meant that tours of the brewery have continued and that jobs were saved, but now we're being told that as many as 15 jobs at Boag's will be lost as they move some beer production onto the mainland. They say it was difficult decision, and I say that's rubbish. They say they couldn't avoid it, and I say that's rubbish, because most of the beer produced is sent back to the mainland. I'm not doubting that most beer is sent back the mainland. Of course they want our beer; it's Tasmanian—it's the best. Lion, the owner of Boag's, got almost $2.7 million from the freight equalisation scheme, from 2018 to 2019, and has continued to reap its benefits. This scheme is designed to level the playing field for manufacturing in Tasmania, and I have been its biggest supporter since it started.

We need to back our Australian industry and restore the industrial manufacturing advantage Australia once had. I get it: we live in a world where everything is more expensive, including electricity and wages, and, at the same time, people are choosing to drink less beer. But a cycle of putting out your hand and saying, 'Please, sir, may I have some more?' and hanging job losses over the heads of workers and Tasmanians is not fair. The millions of taxpayer dollars given to Boag's over the years has not been free money; it has been an investment in the future of Tasmania. So while Lion as a global company will happily take taxpayers' coin, they are proving that they don't give a damn about sticking around to support Tasmanians.