Minister Bryan Green’s expression of disappointment at the closure of the Beaconsfield mine and the resulting loss of jobs is nothing more than crocodile tears says Secretary of Unions Tasmania, Kevin Harkins.

“It is deeply distressing to watch workers lose their jobs and the effect it has on the community, but Minister Green has been content to watch hundreds of other jobs disappear from our public sector and the GBE he has responsibility for, namely Aurora Energy,” Mr Harkins said.

“Minister Green has sat by and done nothing while his managers at Aurora have run a wrecking ball through the place.

“Hundreds of highly skilled workers are destined to abandon Tasmania in search of work and take their families with them.

“Anecdotal evidence from unions in the power industry suggests a significant number of these employees have found work in the mining and energy industries interstate, with more to follow.

“The impact on the Tasmanian community due to the loss of spending from these families will exacerbate our Budget problems, not fix them.

“At least 100 highly skilled jobs have been lost at Aurora, Minister Green’s portfolio area, and there has been not a single word from the Minister who now seems so cut up by job losses near his electorate.

“He hasn’t even bothered to respond to personal correspondence sent to him from Aurora workers.

“Are these redundancies going to continue? The Minister should come clean with employees—but perhaps there’s something he has to hide.”