The Premier has vowed to do everything he can to keep the King Island Dairy open after its recent closure announcement.
In response to a question in state parliament on Wednesday, Jeremy Rockliff said the dairy “will not close on my watch”.
“Can I say that we will be pulling out all stops to ensure that the dairy does not close,” the Premier said.
“We’ll do all we can to ensure the ongoing viability of the King Island Dairy.”
The dairy’s Canadian owner Saputo announced earlier this month that it would close the facility in 2025, citing a lack of profitability.
Rockliff said that while he was disappointed in Saputo’s decision, he had been engaging with the company in a “constructive way” to support a transition to a new owner.
He also announced the formation of a response team that will visit King Island at the end of this week to meet with the Mayor, affected employees and dairy farmers.
“My expectation is that we’ll convene on the island for the first time at the end of this week … [to] ensure that we can present a very compelling case to a potential buyer for the King Island Dairy,” he said.
“I know we’ve already been engaged and have for some time with the Coordinator-General on developing a package to ensure that we can go to the marketplace to ensure that the dairy is attractive to a potential purchaser.”
He said the King Island brand was “renowned for its purity, its quality and a premium brand in that respect”.
“What we don’t want to see is to take a key wedge, if you like, out of that premium brand space, that being the King Island Dairy and the products that it produces,” he said.
“Because that would have a potential flow-on effect for the other key areas on the island that are renowned for. Golf tourism, the seafood, the beef industry.”
“So it’s important that we keep the brand and the holistic brand intact and the King Island cheese is a very important part of that.”
The closure will result in the loss of 58 jobs.
Labor’s Anita Dow said Rockliff made the no-closure promise prior to election and must now “keep his word” and “leave no stone unturned” in finding a solution to keep the business open.
“Labor is committed to working with King Island Council, the local community and TasFarmers to find an interim solution that can save this iconic Tasmanian institution and important local industry from extinction,” she said.
