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

Last week, the Canadian milk giant Saputo announced that they were closing King Island Dairy and retiring the brand. I was on the island earlier this year and heard from locals that they were worried this might happen. King Island Dairy was set up by farmers in 1902, and it was their cheeses, still made by hand, that put Tasmania on the global food map. It will be a devastating loss for the island, not just in jobs and for the families those jobs support but because it's the effective death of an iconic brand that has served as a brand ambassador for the world-class food we export all over the world. All Tasmanians benefited from its success.

The Tasmanian Liberals say they are working hard to find another investor. Well, I hope so. All Tasmanian politicians, state and federal, need to pull out all stops to fix this. Saputo say they also are trying to find alternatives. My office reached out to them today—again—to get more details, and we were told they had nothing more to say. Meanwhile, in Burnie, workers are still on strike at the Saputo factory. All they're asking for is the same pay packet as that for workers on the mainland. On their website Saputo say they have a responsibility to demonstrate good corporate citizenship. How's that going for you? There is a story doing the rounds that Saputo had a buyer but didn't want any competition. How disgraceful of you!

Of course, the islanders have been here before. In 2012 Brazilian company JBS closed down the abattoir on the island. That abattoir is still sitting empty, with the loss of 150 jobs and leaving beef farmers with hefty freight bills. Time and time again we see multinationals—God damn them!—buying into our Tasmanian companies, standing shoulder to shoulder with you politicians in here, only to turn their backs on the locals.

I hope that before much longer an angel investor can be found, because the loss of King Island Dairy is not just a loss for King Island but a loss for the whole of Tasmania.